Males perceive honest information from female released sex pheromone in a moth

Golov, Yiftach; Gonzalez-Karlsson, Adrea; Steinitz, Hadass; Moncaz, Aviad; Halon, Eyal; Horowitz, R.; Goldenberg, Inna; Gurka, Roi; Liberzon, Alex; Soroker, Victoria; Jurenka, Russell A.; Harari, Ally R.

doi:10.1101/2021.04.14.439460

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Traditionally, explanations of the evolution of honest signals involve so-called 'strategic costs' that a signaller has to pay in addition to the minimum costs needed to effectively transfer the signal (efficacy costs) [11,59]. For example, the honesty of female pheromone signals in different moths has been demonstrated to bear on physiological costs of pheromone production [12,13,60]. Honest signals may evolve without strategic costs, however, when there is no conflict of interests between sender and receiver [59,61].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategic pheromone signalling by mate searching females of the sexually cannibalistic spiderArgiope bruennichi

Weiß

Schneider

2022

R. Soc. open sci.

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Reproduction often requires finding a mating partner. To this end, females of many arthropods advertise their presence to searching males via volatile chemical signals. Such pheromones are considered low-cost signals, although this notion is based on little evidence and has recently been challenged. Even when using comparatively low-cost signals, females should signal as little as possible to minimize costs while still ensuring mate attraction. Here, we test the strategic-signalling hypothesis using Argiope bruennichi . In this orb-weaving spider, egg maturation commences with adult moult, and females that do not attract a male in time will lay a large batch of unfertilized eggs approximately three weeks after maturation. Using GC-MS analyses, we show that virgin females enhance their signalling effort, i.e. pheromone quantity per unit body mass, with increasing age and approaching oviposition. We further demonstrate that pheromone release is condition dependent, suggesting the occurrence of physiological costs. Mate choice assays revealed that pheromone quantity is the only predictor of female attractiveness for males. In support of the strategic-signalling hypothesis, pheromone signals by female A. bruennichi become stronger with increased need as well as body condition, and might thus qualify as an honest signal of female quality.

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