Females' sequential mating decisions depend on both the quality of the courting male and the quality of the potential mates in a blood-sucking bug

This study investigates whether female sequential decisions on accepting or rejecting a courting male are based exclusively on the quality of the male present or are affected by the quality of potential mates. We used blood-sucking bugs Rhodnius prolixus as experimental subjects as females' exh...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inBehavioral ecology and sociobiology Vol. 72; no. 9; pp. 1 - 9
Main Authors De Simone, Gabriel A., Manrique, Gabriel, Pompilio, Lorena
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Berlin/Heidelberg Springer 01.09.2018
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Animal Ecology
Animal reproduction
Behavioral Sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Blood
Breeding success
Decision making
Females
Flexibility
Insects
Life Sciences
Males
Mating
Original Article
Rejection
Reproduction
Zoology
Male availability
Rejection behavior
Male quality
Female discrimination
Female choice
Sequential choice
Male nutritional condition
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:This study investigates whether female sequential decisions on accepting or rejecting a courting male are based exclusively on the quality of the male present or are affected by the quality of potential mates. We used blood-sucking bugs Rhodnius prolixus as experimental subjects as females' exhibit stereotyped discrimination behavior towards undesirable males, which allows sequential testing of a female's preference for each male. We expect higher levels of female rejection when the benefit of finding a better quality male overrides the cost of rejecting a mating opportunity. Male quality was manipulated through changes in the feeding regime prior to the experiment because in this species nutritional condition affects males' reproductive success. Females were simultaneously exposed to both a focal male currently available and a background male potentially available. The quality of each focal and background male could be either low or high and all the possible combinations were tested for each pair (low/high, high/low, high/high, low/low). We found that female rejection behavior depends not only on the quality of the focal male but also on the quality of the background male. This behavioral flexibility may allow females to maximize the benefits of their mating decisions.
ISSN:0340-5443
1432-0762
DOI:10.1007/s00265-018-2560-0