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Pandolfi M, Scaia MF, Fernandez MP. Sexual Dimorphism in Aggression: Sex-Specific Fighting Strategies Across Species. Front Behav Neurosci 2021; 15:659615. [PMID: 34262439 PMCID: PMC8273308 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.659615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2021] [Accepted: 06/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Aggressive behavior is thought to have evolved as a strategy for gaining access to resources such as territory, food, and potential mates. Across species, secondary sexual characteristics such as competitive aggression and territoriality are considered male-specific behaviors. However, although female–female aggression is often a behavior that is displayed almost exclusively to protect the offspring, multiple examples of female–female competitive aggression have been reported in both invertebrate and vertebrate species. Moreover, cases of intersexual aggression have been observed in a variety of species. Genetically tractable model systems such as mice, zebrafish, and fruit flies have proven extremely valuable for studying the underlying neuronal circuitry and the genetic architecture of aggressive behavior under laboratory conditions. However, most studies lack ethological or ecological perspectives and the behavioral patterns available are limited. The goal of this review is to discuss each of these forms of aggression, male intrasexual aggression, intersexual aggression and female intrasexual aggression in the context of the most common genetic animal models and discuss examples of these behaviors in other species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matias Pandolfi
- Department of Biodiversity and Experimental Biology, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Maria Florencia Scaia
- Department of Biodiversity and Experimental Biology, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Maria Paz Fernandez
- Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Barnard College of Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
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2
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Bertram SM, Yaremchuk DD, Reifer ML, Villarreal A, Muzzatti MJ, Kolluru GR. Tests of the positive and functional allometry hypotheses for sexually selected traits in the Jamaican field cricket. Behav Processes 2021; 188:104413. [PMID: 33957236 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2021.104413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2021] [Revised: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Sexually selected traits, including threat signals, have been shown to scale steeply positively with body size because their exaggeration maximizes honest signalling. However, the functional allometry hypothesis makes the opposite prediction for some weapons: because the biomechanics of force applied in their use may favor relatively smaller size, sexually selected weapons may exhibit negative allometry. Tests of these ideas in insects have largely focused on holometabolous species, whose adult body size is entirely dependent on nutrients acquired during the larval stage. In contrast, hemimetabolous insects may exhibit different patterns of allometry development because they forage throughout development, between successive moults. Here, we tested complementary and competing predictions made by the positive and functional allometry hypotheses, regarding intrasexually selected trait allometry in a hemimetabolous insect, the Jamaican field cricket (Gryllus assimilis). As expected, head width (a dominance and/or combat trait) was more positively allometric than non-sexually selected traits. In contrast, and consistent with the functional allometry hypothesis, mouthparts (weapons) were either isometric or negatively allometric. We also tested whether trait allometry responded to rearing diet by raising males on either a high protein diet or a high carbohydrate diet; we predicted stronger positive allometry under the high protein diet. However, diet did not influence allometry in the predicted manner. Overall, our results support the functional allometry hypothesis regarding sexually selected trait allometry and raise intriguing possibilities for integrating these ideas with recent paradigms for classifying intrasexually selected traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan M Bertram
- Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6, Canada.
| | - Danya D Yaremchuk
- Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Mykell L Reifer
- Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Amy Villarreal
- Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Matthew J Muzzatti
- Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Gita R Kolluru
- Biological Sciences Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California, 93407, United States
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Kwon O, Choi MB. Interspecific hierarchies from aggressiveness and body size among the invasive alien hornet, Vespa velutina nigrithorax, and five native hornets in South Korea. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0226934. [PMID: 32722670 PMCID: PMC7386586 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2019] [Accepted: 06/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The range of the invasive alien hornet, Vespa velutina nigrithorax, has been expanding since its introduction to Korea in 2003. Here, we compare the aggressive behaviors and body size of V. velutina nigrithorax with five native hornet species to identify the interspecific hierarchies that influence the rate of spread of this species. Aggressive behaviors were classified into 11 categories, and each interaction was scored as a win, loss, or tie. We found that V. velutina was superior to V. simillima in fights that V. velutina won and showed a high incidence of threatening behavior. V. mandarinia outperformed V. velutina in fights that V. mandarinia won and grappling behavior was common. V. analis was superior to V. velutina in fights that V. analis won and showed a high degree of threatening behavior. V. crabro was superior to V. velutina in fights that V. crabro won and showed a high rate of threatening behavior. V. dybowskii was superior to V. velutina in fights that V. dybowskii won and showed a high incidence of threatening and grappling behaviors. The body size of V. velutina was greater than V. simillima (although not statistically significant) and smaller than all other Vespa species. Therefore, according to this study, the low interspecific hierarchies of V. velutina seem to be a major cause of the slower spread in Korea than in Europe. However, over time, its density has gradually increased within the forest, where it seems to be overcoming its disadvantages and expanding its range, possibly because the large colonies and good flying abilities of this species help it secure food.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ohseok Kwon
- School of Applied Biosciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea
| | - Moon Bo Choi
- School of Applied Biosciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.,Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea
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Mitchem LD, Debray R, Formica VA, Brodie ED. Contest interactions and outcomes: relative body size and aggression independently predict contest status. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.06.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Harrison SJ, Godin JGJ, Bertram SM. Influence of dietary nutrient balance on aggression and signalling in male field crickets. Anim Behav 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Loranger MJ, Bertram SM. The effect of sire dominance and aggression on fitness measures in a field cricket (Gryllus assimilis). Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.06.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
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Boutin SR, Harrison SJ, Fitzsimmons LP, McAuley EM, Bertram SM. Same-sex sexual behaviour in crickets: understanding the paradox. Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.01.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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8
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Loranger MJ, Bertram SM. The effect of male dominance on female choice in a field cricket (Gryllus assimilis). Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.01.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Santostefano F, Wilson AJ, Araya-Ajoy YG, Dingemanse NJ. Interacting with the enemy: indirect effects of personality on conspecific aggression in crickets. Behav Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arw037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
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Montroy K, Loranger MJ, Bertram SM. Male crickets adjust their aggressive behavior when a female is present. Behav Processes 2015; 124:108-14. [PMID: 26707007 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2015.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2015] [Revised: 08/19/2015] [Accepted: 11/03/2015] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Communication in nature often occurs within a broad social network, as signals can be perceived by other individuals beyond the primary intended receiver. Because signals often contain information about the signaller's quality, receivers other than the primary intended receiver may use this information in future interactions with the signaller. As a result, individuals who adjust their behavior depending on who is present may experience a selective advantage. The social environment can therefore have an important influence on the evolution of communication signals. We examined how the presence of a female audience influenced male aggressive behavior and post-contest victory displays in the Jamaican field cricket, Gryllus assimilis. We found a significant effect of female audience on aggressive interactions. When there was a female audience present, males were more likely to initiate and escalate fights, but they spent less time producing victory displays, compared to when there was no audience present. Our experiment suggests that the social environment is important in shaping the behavior of individuals during aggressive interactions.
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Fitzsimmons LP, Bertram SM. Playing to an audience: the social environment influences aggression and victory displays. Biol Lett 2013; 9:20130449. [PMID: 23843219 PMCID: PMC3730658 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2013.0449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2013] [Accepted: 06/13/2013] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Animal behaviour studies have begun to incorporate the influence of the social environment, providing new opportunities for studying signal strategies and evolution. We examined how the presence and sex of an audience influenced aggression and victory display behaviour in field-captured and laboratory-reared field crickets (Gryllus veletis). Audience type, rearing environment and their interaction were important predictors in all model sets. Thus, audience type may impose different costs and benefits for competing males depending on whether they are socially experienced or not. Our results suggest that field-captured winners, in particular, dynamically adjust their contest behaviour to potentially gain a reproductive benefit via female eavesdropping and may deter future aggression from rivals by advertising their aggressiveness and victories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren P Fitzsimmons
- Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Canada, K1S5B6.
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Bertram SM, Rook V. Relationship Between Condition, Aggression, Signaling, Courtship, and Egg Laying in the Field Cricket, Gryllus assimilis. Ethology 2012. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2011.02019.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Bertram SM, Rook VLM, Fitzsimmons JM, Fitzsimmons LP. Fine- and Broad-Scale Approaches to Understanding the Evolution of Aggression in Crickets. Ethology 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2011.01970.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Sexually dimorphic male horns and their use in agonistic behaviors in the horn-headed cricket Loxoblemmus doenitzi (Orthoptera: Gryllidae). J ETHOL 2011. [DOI: 10.1007/s10164-011-0277-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Jang Y. Male responses to conspecific advertisement signals in the field cricket Gryllus rubens (Orthoptera: Gryllidae). PLoS One 2011; 6:e16063. [PMID: 21283758 PMCID: PMC3024404 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2010] [Accepted: 12/07/2010] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
In many species males aggregate and produce long-range advertisement signals to attract conspecific females. The majority of the receivers of these signals are probably other males most of the time, and male responses to competitors' signals can structure the spatial and temporal organization of the breeding aggregation and affect male mating tactics. I quantified male responses to a conspecific advertisement stimulus repeatedly over three age classes in Gryllus rubens (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) in order to estimate the type and frequency of male responses to the broadcast stimulus and to determine the factors affecting them. Factors tested included body size, wing dimorphism, age, and intensity of the broadcast stimulus. Overall, males employed acoustic response more often than positive phonotactic response. As males aged, the frequency of positive phonotactic response decreased but that of the acoustic response increased. That is, males may use positive phonotaxis in the early stages of their adult lives, possibly to find suitable calling sites or parasitize calling males, and then later in life switch to acoustic responses in response to conspecific advertisement signals. Males with smaller body size more frequently exhibited acoustic responses. This study suggests that individual variation, more than any factors measured, is critical for age-dependent male responses to conspecific advertisement signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yikweon Jang
- Department of Life Sciences and Division of EcoScience, Ewha University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
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Guerra PA, Pollack GS. Colonists and desperadoes: different fighting strategies in wing-dimorphic male Texas field crickets. Anim Behav 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2010.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Nelis LC, Wootton JT. Treatment-based Markov chain models clarify mechanisms of invasion in an invaded grassland community. Proc Biol Sci 2010; 277:539-47. [PMID: 19864293 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2009.1564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
What are the relative roles of mechanisms underlying plant responses in grassland communities invaded by both plants and mammals? What type of community can we expect in the future given current or novel conditions? We address these questions by comparing Markov chain community models among treatments from a field experiment on invasive species on Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile. Because of seed dispersal, grazing and disturbance, we predicted that the exotic European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) facilitates epizoochorous exotic plants (plants with seeds that stick to the skin an animal) at the expense of native plants. To test our hypothesis, we crossed rabbit exclosure treatments with disturbance treatments, and sampled the plant community in permanent plots over 3 years. We then estimated Markov chain model transition probabilities and found significant differences among treatments. As hypothesized, this modelling revealed that exotic plants survive better in disturbed areas, while natives prefer no rabbits or disturbance. Surprisingly, rabbits negatively affect epizoochorous plants. Markov chain dynamics indicate that an overall replacement of native plants by exotic plants is underway. Using a treatment-based approach to multi-species Markov chain models allowed us to examine the changes in the importance of mechanisms in response to experimental impacts on communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Castillo Nelis
- Committee on Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago, 1101 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
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Takeuchi T, Honda K. Early Comers Become Owners: Effect of Residency Experience on Territorial Contest Dynamics in a Lycaenid Butterfly. Ethology 2009. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2009.01665.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Abstract
Sexually selected male weaponry is widespread in nature. Despite being model systems for the study of male aggression in Western science and for cricket fights in Chinese culture, field crickets (Orthoptera, Gryllidae, Gryllinae) are not known to possess sexually dimorphic weaponry. In a wild population of the fall field cricket, Gryllus pennsylvanicus, we report sexual dimorphism in head size as well as the size of mouthparts, both of which are used when aggressive contests between males escalate to physical combat. Male G. pennsylvanicus have larger heads, maxillae and mandibles than females when controlling for pronotum length. We conducted two experiments to test the hypothesis that relatively larger weaponry conveys an advantage to males in aggressive contests. Pairs of males were selected for differences in head size and consequently were different in the size of maxillae and mandibles. In the first experiment, males were closely matched for body size (pronotum length), and in the second, they were matched for body mass. Males with proportionately larger weaponry won more fights and increasing differences in weaponry size between males increased the fighting success of the male with the larger weaponry. This was particularly true when contests escalated to grappling, the most intense level of aggression. However, neither contest duration nor intensity was related to weaponry size as predicted by models of contest settlement. These results are the first evidence that the size of the head capsule and mouthparts are under positive selection via male-male competition in field crickets, and validate 800-year-old Chinese traditional knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin A Judge
- Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
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