Plasticity in male mating behavior modulates female life history in fruit flies

Abstract

In many species, intense male‐male competition for the opportunity to sire offspring has led to the evolution of selfish reproductive traits that are harmful to the females they mate with. In the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, males modulate their reproductive behavior based on the perceived intensity of competition in their premating environment. Specifically, males housed with other males subsequently transfer a larger ejaculate during a longer mating compared to males housed alone. Although the potential fitness benefits to males from such plasticity are clear, its effects on females are mostly unknown. Hence, we tested the long‐term consequences to females from mating with males with distinct social experiences. First, we verified that competitive experience influences male mating behavior and found that males housed with rivals subsequently have shorter mating latencies and longer mating durations. Then, we exposed females every other day for 20 days to males that were either housed alone or with rivals, and subsequently measured their fitness. We found that females mated to males housed with rivals produce more offspring early in life but fewer offspring later in life and have shorter lifespans but similar intrinsic population growth rates. These results indicate that plasticity in male mating behavior can influence female life histories by altering females’ relative allocation to early versus late investment in reproduction and survival.

Divergent selection on behavioural and chemical traits between reproductively isolated populations of Drosophila melanogaster

“…Another mechanism that could contribute to the asymmetry of reproductive isolation in this system is that male courtship is female‐strain‐dependent. Male courtship is described in seemingly contradictory terms, sometimes as a stereotypical sequence (Cobb et al, 1985; Gaertner et al, 2015), but other times as plastic (Arbuthnott et al, 2017; Dukas & Dukas, 2012; Filice et al, 2020; Marie‐Orleach et al, 2019, 2020). This discrepancy might come from the fact that plasticity is often quantified in terms of courtship effort and intensity, rather than the behavioural sequence.…”

Divergent selection on behavioral and chemical traits contributes to isolation between populations ofDrosophila melanogaster

“…Another mechanism that could contribute to the asymmetry of reproductive isolation in this system is that male courtship is female-genotype dependent. Male courtship is described in seemingly contradictory terms, sometimes as a stereotypical sequence (COBB et al 1985;GAERTNER et al 2015), but other times as plastic (DUKAS AND DUKAS 2012; ARBUTHNOTT et al 2017;FILICE et al 2020). This discrepancy might come from the fact that plasticity is often quantified in terms of courtship effort and intensity, rather than the behavioral sequence.…”

Reproductive plasticity in both sexes interacts to determine mating behaviour and fecundity

“…D. melanogaster males may also alter their reproductive investment in response to perceived levels of sperm competition. For example, males exposed to rivals prior to mating extend mating duration and transfer into females more of two key seminal fluid proteins (SFPs), Ovulin and sex peptide (SP) (Wigby et al, 2009; Bretman et al, 2013a; Filice et al, 2020). Ovulin and SP induce important post-mating behavioural and physiological changes to females, including increased fecundity and decreased sexual receptivity (Chapman et al, 1993; Herndon and Wolfner, 1995; Heifetz et al, 2000; Liu and Kubli, 2003; Wigby et al, 2009).…”