12/3/2015

Courtship and Mating

(behavioral or ethological premating RIMs)
(often includes multiple modalities)

MALE: FEMALE:

initiating behavior

response 1

response 1

response 2

response 2

copulation

Males in particular must answer a series

of questions in order to pass the test
(the essence of sexual selection)

“Flyby” matings: midges

(Diptera: Chironomidae) “Slow dancers:” Euxestus sp.
-- a few seconds -- (Coleoptera: Cerylonidae)
-- 5 days! --
swarming behavior

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Comparing courtship modalities: information

content, propagation, blocking, and privacy

A. Visual (vision)
1. visible
2. ultraviolet
B. Chemical/Olfactory (pheromones)
1. substrate-borne (incl. cuticular hydrocarbons)
2. airborne
C. Mechanical (movement)
1. tactile (touch)
2. vibrational (periodic signals)

Visual cues: simple aggregation

Coccinellidae (Coleoptera)
Lekking (?)
Chironomidae (Diptera): (site has no resources
mating swarm to offer)

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Visual cues: complex Photinus sp.

courtship interactions --
Photinus flash patterns
(Jim Lloyd, 1966)

Photuris “femme fatale”

eats male Photinus

Visual cues: Photuris femmes

fatales producing the correct
female response for different
Photinus hosts

Photinus Hosts: Time (sec)

1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0
P. macdermotti MALE
FEMALE
MIMIC = male call
P. tanytoxus MALE = female response
FEMALE
= Photurus response
MIMIC
(mimic)
P. species A MALE
FEMALE
MIMIC

P. species B MALE
FEMALE
MIMIC

P. versicolor
MALE
(predator)
FEMALE

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Ultraviolet reflectance (“hidden” visual cues)

sp. 1
sp. 1
upper lower
Wood satyrs upper lower

and related taxa

(Lepidoptera:
Nymphalidae:
Satyrinae)

sp. 2 sp. 2

male

Chemical (pheromonal) cues: aggregation

Death’s head hawkmoths Japanese beetles
(Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) (Scarabaeidae)

Polyphemus moths

female

male

Female moth in
calling position

Promethea moths
female (Saturniidae)

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Queen butterfly Queen

male butterfly

Hair pencils in
male Danaidae female
(pheromones)

Monarch butterfly

Deceitful use of the pheromone channel (cross-kingdom)

orchid pollinia

flightless female
male

Zapilothynnus trilobatus (thynnine wasp)

wingless female next to a mimicking orchid Tiphiidae: Thynninae

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Acoustical cues: inter- and intrasexual competition

(more later)

Acoustical cues (to be continued), plus exploitation

Orthoptera:
Gryllidae Diptera: Tachinidae

Ormia fly parasitizing

Snowy tree cricket a singing gryllid cricket male
(Oecanthus fultoni)

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Sexual Selection

• Darwin (1871) first distinguished

it from natural selection:
selection for mating success
rather than for viability & fitness.

• Far-reaching consequences:
• intersexual competition
(female choice)
• intrasexual competition
(male-male contests)
• sexual dimorphism
• sexual conflict

Courtship feeding, beyond the spermatophore:

Intersexual sexual selection (female choice)

German cockroach (Blattella germanica)

male Tree cricket (Oecanthus nigricornis)

female

female

male

(intersexual)

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Nuptial gifts: prey items in hangingflies

(Mecoptera: Bittacidae & Panorpidae)

Bittacidae

male
female
58% male mortality!

(intersexual)
Panorpidae use saliva

male

Nuptial gifts: prey items &

substitutes in balloon flies
(Diptera: Empididae)

female male

female

(intersexual)

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Nuptial gifts: other food items

Male nuptial gift

(fig seed, vibrated &
Seed bug Stilbocoris sp. preprocessed by
(Hemiptera: Lygaeidae) male injections)
Male

Female

Female (intersexual)
Male

Female

Female

Male

Male

Male-male aggression:
Intrasexual sexual selection (male-male contests)

Stag beetles (Coleoptera: Lucanidae)

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Territoriality:
Defense of a perch site
by a dragonfly male
against two models
(Odonata: Anisoptera)
(intrasexual)

(and mate guarding)

Territoriality: Defense of a resource (= burrow)

(intra- & intersexual)

Mole crickets (Orthoptera:

Gryllotalpidae)

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(intra- & intersexual)

Territoriality:
Defense of a resource
(= virgin female in a burrow)

female

Cicada killer, Sphecius speciosus

(Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

male

Consequences of sexual selection:

Sexual size & shape dimorphism
male

male

female

female

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More complex interactions: Uniparental care

An Australian Sawfly:
(Hymenoptera: Symphyta: family?)

Biparental care and sexual role reversal

Giant water bugs
Hemiptera:
Belostomatidae

Burying beetles (Nicrophorus spp.)

Coleoptera: Silphidae

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Eusociality: the “superorganism” & caste polymorphism

Hymenoptera: bees, wasps, & ants Dictyoptera: Isoptera: termites

Castes

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