Variable assessment of wing colouration in aerial contests of the red-winged damselfly Mnesarete pudica (Zygoptera, Calopterygidae)

Abstract

Wing pigmentation is a trait that predicts the outcome of male contests in some damselflies. Thus, it is reasonable to suppose that males would have the ability to assess wing pigmentation and adjust investment in a fight according to the costs that the rival may potentially impose. Males of the damselfly Mnesarete pudica exhibit red-coloured wings and complex courtship behaviour and engage in striking male-male fights. In this study, we investigated male assessment behaviour during aerial contests. Theory suggests that the relationship between male resource-holding potential (RHP) and contest duration describes the kind of assessment adopted by males: self-assessment, opponent-only assessment or mutual assessment. A recent theory also suggests that weak and strong males exhibit variations in the assessment strategies adopted. We estimated male RHP through male body size and wing colouration (i.e. pigmentation, wing reflectance spectra and transmission spectra) and studied the relationship between male RHP and contest duration from video-documented behavioural observations of naturally occurring individual contests in the field. The results showed that males with more opaque wings and larger red spots were more likely to win contests. The relationships between RHP and contest durations partly supported the self-assessment and the mutual assessment models. We then experimentally augmented the pigmented area of the wings, in order to evaluate whether strong and weak males assess rivals' RHP through wing pigmentation. Our experimental manipulation, however, clearly demonstrated that strong males assess rivals' wing pigmentation. We finally suggest that there is a variation in the assessment strategy adopted by males.

Mechanism of the wing colouration in the dragonfly Zenithoptera lanei (Odonata: Libellulidae) and its role in intraspecific communication

“…Melanin based wing pigmentation (Stavenga et al 2012) is considered to be a sexual ornament that indicates male quality (Contreras-Garduño et al, 2006 and influences territorial contests (Guillermo-Ferreira and Del-Claro, 2011a;Guillermo-Ferreira et al, 2015), mate-choice (Siva-Jothy, 1999) and mate recognition (Frantsevich and Mokrushov, 1984;Anderson and Grether, 2010;Guillermo-Ferreira et al, 2014). For instance, the structural colouration in Megaloprepus caerulatus (Drury, 1782) (Zygoptera: Pseudostigmatidae) was suggested to act as a cue for sexual recognition and male quality (Schultz and Fincke, 2009).…”

Intrasexual selection favours an immune‐correlated colour ornament in a dragonfly

“…To assess whether wing melanization has direct effects on the aggression received from rival males, we presented decoys (previously frozen males) to territorial males, experimentally augmented the ornamentation of the decoys, presented them to new males and compared the aggression received before and after the experimental manipulation (see also Anderson & Grether, ; Guillermo‐Ferreira et al ., ). We tethered decoys to a 2‐m aluminium pole using clear nylon line (diameter = 0.18 mm), and presented them to territorial males.…”

“…After presenting the decoy to several different territorial males (median: 4, range: 2–5), we augmented the ornamentation by homogenously colouring the wings distally from the nodus (Fig. S2) with a felt‐tip marker chosen to approximate the natural colour (Crayola ® Cuppa' Cappucino ; sensu Anderson & Grether, ; Guillermo‐Ferreira et al ., ). This degree of ornamentation is within the natural phenotypic range.…”

Contest Duration and Dynamics are Affected by Body Size in a Potentially Subsocial Crayfish (Crustacea: Decapoda)

“…animal contests, and there is a considerable number of cases where animals seem to use a mixed assessment strategy (Mesterton-Gibbons & Heap 2014;Palaoro et al 2014;Guillermo-Ferreira et al 2015). The aforementioned evidence of chemical communication was gathered from open-water freely living species rather than burrowing crayfish.…”