The Effects of a Male Audience on Male and Female Mating Behaviour in the Blood-Sucking Bug Rhodnius prolixus

Simone, Gabriel A. De; Pompilio, Lorena; Manrique, Gabriel Aguilera

doi:10.1007/s13744-021-00935-6

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 45 publications

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“…In the “polyandry” treatment, we placed two age-matched males in with the female; thus both males were available for copulation. This design ensured that the sex ratio was held constant in both the monogamy and polyandry treatments to avoid any changes in female mating behaviour due to differences in the sex ratio [ 37 – 42 ]. To ensure that the environments were comparable among treatments, we also placed an empty conical tube in the home containers of polyandry-treatment females (Fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polyandrous females but not monogamous females vary in reproductive ageing patterns in the bean bug Riptortus pedestris

2022

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Background In general, reproductive performance exhibits nonlinear changes with age. Specifically, reproductive performance increases early in life, reaches a peak, and then declines later in life. Reproductive ageing patterns can also differ among individuals if they are influenced by individual-specific strategies of resource allocation between early-life reproduction and maintenance. In addition, the social environment, such as the number of available mates, can influence individual-specific resource allocation strategies and consequently alter the extent of individual differences in reproductive ageing patterns. That is, females that interact with more partners are expected to vary their copulation frequency, adopt a more flexible reproductive strategy and exhibit greater individual differences in reproductive ageing patterns. Methods In this study, we evaluated the effect of mating with multiple males on both group- and individual-level reproductive ageing patterns in females of the bean bug Riptortus pedestris by ensuring that females experienced monogamous (one female with one male) or polyandrous conditions (one female with two males). Results We found that group-level reproductive ageing patterns did not differ between monogamy-treatment and polyandry-treatment females. However, polyandry-treatment females exhibited among-individual variation in reproductive ageing patterns, while monogamy-treatment females did not. Conclusion Our findings provide the first empirical evidence regarding the influence of the social environment on individual variation in reproductive ageing patterns. We further suggest that the number of potential mates influences group- and individual-level reproductive ageing patterns, depending on which sex controls mating. We encourage future studies to consider interactions between species-specific mating systems and the social environment when evaluating group- and individual-level reproductive ageing patterns.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polyandrous females but not monogamous females vary in reproductive ageing patterns in the bean bug Riptortus pedestris

2022

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Age-related mating rates among ecologically distinct lineages of bedbugs, Cimex lectularius

et al. 2023

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Understanding how many mates an animal has in its lifetime is a critical factor in sexual selection. At the same time, differences in an organism's ecology, such as the quantity and quality of food, could be reflected in different mating rates. Mating rate had a significant effect on female net fitness (i.e., lifetime offspring production), however, laboratory measurements cannot well mirror the situation in wild. The common bedbug (Cimex lectularius) is a well-established model for studying traumatic insemination and sexual conflict. The species comprises two host lineages that feed on bats (BL) or humans (HL). HL can constantly feed on human hosts throughout the year, while BLs feed only during summer months when their bat hosts occupy the roosts. Because mating in female bedbugs is closely linked to foraging, this system provides a valuable model to study mating variation in the field. We established a new method for estimating age-dependent mating rates of females in the wild by relating the fluorescent pigment accumulation in the eyes of females to the number of mating scars that manifest as melanized spots caused by the injection of sperm through the wall of the female abdomen by the male into the spermalege. In addition, using laboratory bedbugs we found that three and a half observed matings on average lead to one observed melanized mating scar. Although young BL and HL females (with low pteridine concentrations) did not differ in the number of matings, the mating rate increased with age only in HL but not in BL females. We sampled on average older BL than HL females. The lack of access to food (bat blood) during winter could explain the lack of increase in the number of scars with age in BL. In species where mating leaves visible marks, using fluorescent pigments to determine female age (applicable to most arthropods) could be an important tool to study sexual selection and mating rate in the wild. The method can help formulate sustainable and biologically lucid approaches for their control.

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Age-related mating rates among ecologically distinct lineages of bedbugs, Cimex lectularius

Bartonička

Křemenová

Balvín

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Understanding how many mates an animal has in its lifetime is a critical factor in sexual selection. At the same time, differences in an organism's ecology, such as the quantity and quality of food, could be reflected in different mating rates. Mating rate is thus an important measure, also on a population level, however, laboratory measurements cannot well mirror the situation in wild. The common bedbug (Cimex lectularius) is a well-established model for studying traumatic insemination and sexual conflict. The species comprises two host lineages that feed on bats (BL) or humans (HL). HL can constantly feed on human hosts throughout the year, while BLs feed only during summer months when their bat hosts occupy the roosts. Because mating in female bedbugs is closely linked to foraging, this system provides a valuable model to study mating variation in the field. We established a new method for estimating age-dependent mating rates of females in the wild by relating the accumulation of fluorescent pigment accumulation in the eyes of females to the number of mating scars that manifest as melanized spots caused by the injection of sperm through the wall of the female abdomen by the male into the spermalege. In addition, using laboratory bedbugs we found that three and a half observed matings on average lead to one observed melanized mating scar. Although young BL and HL females (with low pteridine concentrations) did not differ in the number of matings, the mating rate increased with age only in HL but not in BL females. We sampled on average older BL than HL females. The lack of access to food (bat blood) during winter could explain the lack of increase in the number of scars with age in BL. In species where mating leaves visible marks, using fluorescent pigments to determine female age (applicable to most arthropods) could be an important tool to study sexual selection and mating rate in the wild. The method can help formulate sustainable and biologically lucid approaches for their control.

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The Effects of a Male Audience on Male and Female Mating Behaviour in the Blood-Sucking Bug Rhodnius prolixus

Cited by 4 publications

References 45 publications

Polyandrous females but not monogamous females vary in reproductive ageing patterns in the bean bug Riptortus pedestris

Polyandrous females but not monogamous females vary in reproductive ageing patterns in the bean bug Riptortus pedestris

Age-related mating rates among ecologically distinct lineages of bedbugs, Cimex lectularius

Age-related mating rates among ecologically distinct lineages of bedbugs, Cimex lectularius

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