Mutual Mate Assessment in Wolf Spiders: Differences in the Cues Used by Males and Females

Abstract

When males engage in conspicuous courtship displays, it seems obvious that females would use characteristics of that display in mating decisions. However, males must also have a way to identify and evaluate females prior to engaging in what might be a costly mating ritual. Although it was known that female wolf spiders of the species Pardosa milvina (Araneae; Lycosidae) attract males using volatile chemical cues, the nature of the cues used by males and females in mate selection had not been investigated. Specifically we determined whether males could detect the mating status of the female and if chemotactile cues from the female played a role in that process. In addition, we quantified conspicuous aspects of the male courtship (leg raises and body shakes) to determine if courtship intensity was related to female choice. Although repeated mating occurred in our studies, males were more likely to court and mate with virgin females. Males used substrate‐borne cues deposited by females to discriminate between mated and virgin females. Females used the conspicuous behaviors of males during courtship, body shakes and leg raises, in mate selection. Thus males and females use different kinds of information and different sensory modalities to assess the suitability of a potential mate.

Enigmatic ornamentation eases male reliance on courtship performance for mating success

“…In addition, above the threshold, as courtship rate increased, a male's likelihood of copulating increased. Female preferences for male courtship rate have been documented for a wide range of animals including, but not limited to, orthopterans, homopterans and anurans (reviewed in Gerhardt & Huber 2002), fiddler crabs (Backwell et al, 1999;Murai and Backwell, 2006), birds and mammals (reviewed in Byers et al 2010), and wolf spiders (Kotiaho et al, 1998a;Parri et al, 2002;Rypstra et al, 2003;Delaney et al, 2007;Gibson and Uetz, 2008;Lomborg and Toft, 2009;Shamble et al, 2009;Rundus et al, 2010). Thus, our findings that female choice depends upon courtship rate and that higher courtship rates result in faster copulations in S. stridulans were not unexpected.…”

“…While early Schizocosa studies focused on the relationship between ornamentation and female choice (McClintock and Uetz, 1996;Scheffer et al, 1996;Hebets and Uetz, 2000;Uetz and Roberts, 2002;Hebets et al, 2006;Uetz and Norton, 2007), more recent studies have highlighted the importance of these active displays, as courtship rate has been shown to influence male mating success across multiple species of wolf spider (Kotiaho et al, 1998a;Parri et al, 2002;Rypstra et al, 2003;Delaney et al, 2007;Gibson and Uetz, 2008;Lomborg and Toft, 2009;Shamble et al, 2009;Rundus et al, 2010Rundus et al, , 2011. Female Schizocosa are considered mostly monandrous (Norton & Uetz 2005), and previous work has documented strong female mate choice across species (e.g.…”

Female mate choice based upon male motor performance

“…Nutritional enrichment enhanced courtship intensity in Pardosa prativaga, and nutrient-enriched males experienced higher mating success (Lomborg & Toft 2009). Similarly, P. milvina males in better condition court at higher rates and survive predation better than do males in poor condition (Hoefler et al 2008), and females prefer to mate with males performing more body shakes and leg raises (Rypstra et al 2003). Male courtship rate in P. milvina is repeatable for most male-female pairings, and females that mate with males with high courtship rates tend to produce more offspring, which in turn emerge sooner and show greater probabilities of survival (Hoefler et al 2009).…”

Chemoreceptors distribution and relative importance of male forelegs and palps in intersexual chemical communication of the wolf spider Pardosa astrigera

“…Up to date, although it is widely recognized that courtship often involves a complex exchange of signals between males and females that exploit multiple sensory modalities, most empirical studies typically focus on a single sensory modality (Hebets and Papaj 2005;Uetz and Roberts 2002). Across wolf spiders, fewer studies have been devoted in understanding how the different sensory modalities are integrated in producing successful courtship behavior (Rypstra et al 2003;Uetz and Roberts 2002). It is presumable that the ability to silence chemoreceptors selectively using zinc sulfate may play important roles in disentangling the chemical modality from other sensory modalities in lycosids.…”