Males missing their sexually selected weapon have decreased fighting ability and mating success in a competitive environment

Emberts, Zachary; Mary, Colette M. St.; Herrington, Tyler; Miller, Charles H.

doi:10.1007/s00265-018-2494-6

Cited by 28 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Regarding initial stages, male fiddler crabs ( Uca mjoebergi ) that fully regenerated their major claw after autotomy were less likely to hold and defend territories than intact individuals (Reaney et al, ). Moreover, autotomy, with or without regeneration, has repeatedly been found to decrease an individual's probability of winning intraspecific fights in the context of reproduction (Smith, ; Martín & Salvador, ; Abello et al, ; Reaney et al, ; Daleo et al, ; Wada, ; Yasuda & Koga, ; Emberts et al, ). In many cases these autotomizable appendages are used directly during intraspecific interactions (e.g.…”

Section: Variation In the Costs And Benefits Of Autotomymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Limb‐autotomized male Menochilus sexmaculatus ladybird beetles experienced a delayed mating start and duration (Shandilya, Mishra & Omkar, ). Moreover, mating success was found to be lower in autotomized males of the wolf spider Schizocosa ocreata (Taylor et al, ), as well as in the cactus bug Narnia femorata (Emberts et al, ). In the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus experimental pairings when the female was missing either a middle or hind leg were less likely to transfer sperm (Bateman & Fleming, ).…”

Section: Variation In the Costs And Benefits Of Autotomymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, other crustaceans have been observed implementing fighting tactics that conceal the loss of their weapon (O'Neill & Cobb, ; Berzins & Caldwell, ). However, some studies have found that organisms missing an autotomizable appendage behave in a similar manner to their intact counterparts (Maginnis et al, ; Yasuda & Koga, ); for example, in the leaf‐footed cactus bug N. femorata , individuals missing their autotomizable weapons are just as likely to engage in intraspecific interactions as are intact individuals, and weaponless individuals still try to use their weapon, behaving as if the weapon was still present (Emberts et al, ). The factors that drive such contrasting responses across species remains unclear.…”

Section: Implications Of Autotomy On Organismal and Environmental Intmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The ecology and evolution of autotomy

2019

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Autotomy, the self-induced loss of a body part, occurs throughout Animalia. A lizard dropping its tail to escape predation is an iconic example, however, autotomy occurs in a diversity of other organisms. Octopuses can release their arms, crabs can drop their claws, and bugs can amputate their legs. The diversity of organisms that can autotomize body parts has led to a wealth of research and several taxonomically focused reviews. These reviews have played a crucial role in advancing our understanding of autotomy within their respective groups. However, because of their taxonomic focus, these reviews are constrained in their ability to enhance our understanding of autotomy. Here, we aim to synthesize research on the ecology and evolution of autotomy throughout Animalia, building a unified framework on which future studies can expand. We found that the ability to drop an appendage has evolved multiple times throughout Animalia and that once autotomy has evolved, selection appears to act on the removable appendage to increase the efficacy and/or efficiency of autotomy. This could explain why some autotomizable body parts are so elaborate (e.g. brightly coloured). We also show that there are multiple benefits, and variable costs, associated with autotomy. Given this variation, we generate an economic theory of autotomy (modified from the economic theory of escape) which makes predictions about when an individual should resort to autotomy. Finally, we show that the loss of an autotomizable appendage can have numerous consequences on population and community dynamics. By taking this broad taxonomic approach, we identified patterns of autotomy that transcend specific lineages and highlight clear directions for future research.

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Section: Variation In the Costs And Benefits Of Autotomymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Variation In the Costs And Benefits Of Autotomymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Implications Of Autotomy On Organismal and Environmental Intmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The ecology and evolution of autotomy

2019

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“…In these cases, the differences in autotomy were attributed to difference in predation pressure or differences in the cost of losing the MORPHOLOGY OF AN AUTOTOMY FRACTURE PLANE EXPLAINS SOME OF THE VARIATION IN THE LATENCY TO AUTOTOMIZE autotomized limb. Other research has shown that male N. femorata use their hind legs in intrasexual competitions (Proctor et al, 2012;Nolen et al, 2017), and the loss of these hind legs decreases a male's probability of winning a fight (Emberts et al, 2018). Additionally, males that lose these sexually selected weapons have decreased mating success.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Morphology of an autotomy fracture plane explains some of the variation in the latency to autotomize

Yoches

2019

UFJUR

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A gecko dropping its tail to escape predation beautifully illustrates the anti-predatory benefits associated with autotomy, i.e., the self-induced loss of a limb. The amount of time it takes an organism to drop its autotomizable limb can dramatically vary from one individual to the next, and the factors that are responsible for this variation remain unclear. Here, we investigated whether the size of the auototomy fracture plane, a morphological character, could explain variation in the latency to autotomize. We found that individuals with larger fracture planes took longer to autotomize when we statistically controlled for an individual’s body size and sex. These results support previous assumptions about the relationship between fracture plane size and latency to autotomize. Namely, large individuals, with relatively small autotomy fracture planes, can drop their autotomizable limbs quickly, which likely improves their success in using this anti-predatory tactic.

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“…Leaf‐footed bugs are also well known for another antipredatory defense, autotomy, which is self‐induced appendage loss (Emberts, St. Mary, Herrington, & Miller, 2018; Emberts, Miller, Kiehl, & St. Mary, 2017; Emberts, St. Mary, & Miller, 2016). Autotomy is a secondary defense (i.e., a defense to evade a pursuant predator; Edmunds, 1974) used by a variety of species to escape predation and has been observed in arthropods, cephalopods, lizards, and amphibians (Emberts, Escalante, & Bateman, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaf‐footed bugs possess multiple hidden contrasting color signals, but only one is associated with increased body size

Emberts

Miller

Skojec

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Antipredatory displays that incorporate hidden contrasting coloration are found in a variety of different animals. These displays are seen in organisms that have drab coloration at rest, but when disturbed reveal conspicuous coloration. Examples include the bright abdomens of mountain katydids and the colorful underwings of hawk moths. Such hidden displays can function as secondary defenses, enabling evasion of a pursuant predator. To begin to understand why some species have these displays while others do not, we conducted phylogenetic comparative analyses to investigate factors associated with the evolution of hidden contrasting coloration in leaf‐footed bugs. First, we investigated whether hidden contrasting coloration was associated with body size because these displays are considered to be more effective in larger organisms. We then investigated whether hidden contrasting coloration was associated with an alternative antipredatory defense, in this case rapid autotomy. We found that leaf‐footed bugs with hidden contrasting coloration tended to autotomize more slowly, but this result was not statistically significant. We also found that the presence of a body size association was dependent upon the form of the hidden color display. Leaf‐footed bugs that reveal red/orange coloration were the same size, on average, as species without a hidden color display. However, species that reveal white patches on a black background were significantly larger than species without a hidden color display. These results highlight the diversity of forms that hidden contrasting color signal can take, upon which selection may act differently.

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Males missing their sexually selected weapon have decreased fighting ability and mating success in a competitive environment

Cited by 28 publications

References 39 publications

The ecology and evolution of autotomy

The ecology and evolution of autotomy

Morphology of an autotomy fracture plane explains some of the variation in the latency to autotomize

Leaf‐footed bugs possess multiple hidden contrasting color signals, but only one is associated with increased body size

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