Survival cost of an intrasexually selected ornament in a damselfly

Ornaments could evolve as honest indicators of fighting ability, provided they have costs that make deceptive signalling unprofitable. I tested for such costs by manipulating the size of the intrasexually selected wing spots of male rubyspot damselflies (Hetaerina americana) and monitoring survival...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inProceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Vol. 264; no. 1379; pp. 207 - 210
Main Author Grether, Gregory F.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published The Royal Society 22.02.1997
Subjects
Animal wings
Calopterygidae
Colors
Ecological competition
Evolution
Freshwater
Hetaerina americana
Inks
Longevity
Male animals
Mating behavior
Mortality
Sexual selection
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Summary:Ornaments could evolve as honest indicators of fighting ability, provided they have costs that make deceptive signalling unprofitable. I tested for such costs by manipulating the size of the intrasexually selected wing spots of male rubyspot damselflies (Hetaerina americana) and monitoring survival in the field. Males with enlarged spots had higher mortality rates than both unmanipulated and sham-manipulated controls. Natural wing spot size correlated positively with longevity, which suggests that higher quality males develop larger spots.
Bibliography:ark:/67375/V84-17FRXSM6-H
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ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.1997.0029