Obligate male death and sexual cannibalism in dark fishing spiders

Schwartz, Steven K.; Wagner, William E.; Hebets, Eileen A.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.04.037

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…We tested whether males might receive benefits associated with increased offspring quantity and quality (i.e., paternal-effort hypothesis) through self-sacrifice in the sexually dimorphic dark fishing spider, Dolomedes tenebrosus. Male D. tenebrosus are 7%-13% the mass of females ( [14]; this study) and exhibit an unusual mating strategy in which they appear to passively facilitate their own cannibalism: they obligately die upon sperm transfer and are subsequently cannibalized by their larger, female partner [14,31]. Prior research has shown that the consumption of a male D. tenebrosus does not reduce the probability that a female will re-mate [31].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…In D. tenebrosus, males spontaneously die following mating and are inevitably cannibalized by their mates [14], thus limiting males to a single lifetime mating. Our previous results found that the consumption of the male does not reduce a female's probability of re-mating, so males do not appear to facilitate their own cannibalism in order to increase their success in mating or sperm competition [31]. However, it remains possible that spontaneous male death increases sperm transfer.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…First, males would appear to have substantial opportunities to mate with multiple females if they did not spontaneously die; male encounter rates with females are quite high under natural conditions [14], suggesting that the costs of searching for additional mates are low. Additionally, females will clearly mate with multiple males if given the opportunity [31]. Second, the adult sex ratio is strongly male biased [14], a scenario in which selection is expected to favor investment in paternity protection, not investment in females or offspring [22].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To determine the efficacy of male consumption, we used unpublished data from a previous study in which females were allowed to mate and cannibalize freely (see [31]), and we measured male mass (mg) before and after mating trials in which females cannibalized males. Dividing the postcannibalism mass by the live mass enabled us to calculate the proportion consumed.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Males Can Benefit from Sexual Cannibalism Facilitated by Self-Sacrifice

2016

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In a number of species, males are cannibalized by females after mating (reviewed in [1, 2]), and some males actually appear to facilitate their own cannibalism (reviewed in [3]). Such self-sacrifice can evolve if being eaten sufficiently enhances either fertilization success (mating effort) or offspring number or fitness (paternal effort). While there is some support for the mating-effort hypothesis, few studies have found support for paternal effort. We used two experiments to test the paternal-effort hypothesis in the dark fishing spider, Dolomedes tenebrosus. Males of this species provide themselves as a material contribution: they spontaneously die during copulation and are subsequently eaten by females. In support of the paternal-effort predictions, when females were allowed to consume their mating partner, we found large and significant increases in (1) the number, (2) the size, and (3) the survivorship of the offspring. Similar benefits were not seen when females were allowed to consume a cricket in lieu of a male, suggesting that it is the consumption of the male's body per se that is responsible for these fitness benefits. Together, our results suggest that D. tenebrosus males can benefit from self-sacrifice behavior through paternal effort. Such behavior may be particularly likely to evolve when high rates of postcopulatory cannibalism trap males into investing in their first mate instead of investing in acquiring additional matings and/or if strong first-male sperm precedence reduces the benefits of both investing in additional matings and paternity protection.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Males Can Benefit from Sexual Cannibalism Facilitated by Self-Sacrifice

2016

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“…The potential benefits of sexual cannibalism for males can be observed in systems where males sacrifice themselves to their female mating partner (e.g., Andrade, 1996). For example, in the fishing spider, Dolomedes tenebrosus, males spontaneously die following sperm transfer (Schwartz, Wagner, & Hebets, 2013) and females always consume their dead or dying mates (Schwartz, Wagner, & Hebets, 2014). In this species, female consumption of males results in increased offspring number, weight, and survival (Schwartz et al, 2016).…”

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confidence: 99%

Female nursery web spiders (Pisaurina mira) benefit from consuming their mate

Anderson

Hebets

2018

Ethology

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The often coincidental involvement of cooperation and conflict in animal reproduction is epitomized by sexual cannibalism, which can lead to obvious male costs while simultaneously providing direct benefits to developing offspring. Male nursery web spiders (Pisaurina mira) avoid postcopulatory sexual cannibalism by wrapping females with silk. Here, we test the hypothesis that this silk wrapping results in a loss of consumption cost for females. In specific, we hypothesize that females lose out on potential fitness benefits associated with cannibalizing their mating partners. To test this, we paired females with males that were experimentally manipulated to prevent the silk wrapping of females, thereby increasing the likelihood of sexual cannibalism. Females either did not kill their mate, and thus consumed nothing, or did kill their mate. If females killed their mating partner, we allowed them to consume the male, consume nothing, or consume a cricket. We found no effect of female or male body sizes on the likelihood of females killing their mate. While our treatments did not affect the number of offspring females produced, females that consumed either a male or a cricket produced egg sacs faster than females that consumed nothing, suggesting a benefit of increased postcopulatory food consumption. Further, only females that ate a male had heavier and longer lived offspring, suggesting a benefit of sexual cannibalism specifically. Our results support the hypothesis that females can receive fitness benefits associated with sexual cannibalism.

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Cryptic Female Choice Within the Genus Argiope: A Comparative Approach

Schneider¹,

Uhl

Herberstein

2015

Cryptic Female Choice in Arthropods

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The orb-web spider genus Argiope (Araneae) offers an excellent opportunity to detect cryptic female choice and to identify the species-specific traits that might lead to its evolution and maintenance. All studied species of the genus Argiope are characterized by low male mating rates. While males of some species are strictly mono-or bigynous, others plastically switch between these two strategies. All studied species show sexual cannibalism during copulation. Generally, males die after their second copulation, but the probability of surviving the first copulation differs considerably between species and so does copulation duration. Males of most species break off pieces of their genitalia during copulation that act as mating plugs, but how often this occurs and how effective these plugs are is highly variable. Females that mate multiply can influence the relative paternity success of males through their partial control of copulation duration and their likely control of sperm storage. There is evidence that females cryptically favor small males over large ones, unrelated males over siblings, and males that courted over those that do not. We will sketch variation within and between species in mating systems and related traits, and we will discuss how this relates to cryptic female choice. We will review the existing evidence for cryptic female choice and suggest future avenues in elucidating possible mechanisms that facilitate cryptic female choice and the cues that females may base their choices on.

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Obligate male death and sexual cannibalism in dark fishing spiders

Cited by 15 publications

References 32 publications

Males Can Benefit from Sexual Cannibalism Facilitated by Self-Sacrifice

Males Can Benefit from Sexual Cannibalism Facilitated by Self-Sacrifice

Female nursery web spiders (Pisaurina mira) benefit from consuming their mate

Cryptic Female Choice Within the Genus Argiope: A Comparative Approach

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