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Amini S, Fathipour Y, Hoffmann A, Mehrabadi M. Wolbachia affect female mate preference and offspring fitness in a parasitoid wasp. PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE 2024. [PMID: 38934782 DOI: 10.1002/ps.8272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 05/14/2024] [Accepted: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Wolbachia are widespread intracellular bacteria in insects that often have high rates of spread due to their impact on insect reproduction. These bacteria may also affect the mating behavior of their host with impacts on the fitness of host progeny. In this study, we investigated the impact of Wolbachia on a preference for mating with young or old males in the parasitoid wasp Habrobracon hebetor. RESULTS Our results showed that uninfected females from a tetracycline-treated line preferred to mate with young males, whereas Wolbachia-infected females had no preference. Time to mating was relatively shorter in the infected lines. Regardless of Wolbachia infection status, progeny resulting from matings with young males showed higher fitness than those from crosses with old males, and infected females crossed with infected young males showed the highest performance. CONCLUSION These results suggest an impact of Wolbachia on female mate preference and offspring fitness although it is unclear how this phenomenon increases Wolbachia transmission of infected wasps. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Amini
- Department of Entomology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Ary Hoffmann
- School of BioSciences, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
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Yan JL, Rosenbaum JR, Esteves S, Dobbin ML, Dukas R. Sexual conflict and social networks in bed bugs: effects of social experience. Behav Ecol 2024; 35:arae030. [PMID: 38690087 PMCID: PMC11059254 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arae030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2023] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Living in groups can provide essential experience that improves sexual performance and reproductive success. While the effects of social experience have drawn considerable scientific interest, commonly used behavioral assays often do not capture the dynamic nature of interactions within a social group. Here, we conducted 3 experiments using a social network framework to test whether social experience during early adulthood improves the sexual competence of bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) when placed in a complex and competitive group environment. In each experiment, we observed replicate groups of bed bugs comprising previously socialized and previously isolated individuals of the same sex, along with an equal number of standardized individuals of the opposite sex. Regardless of whether we controlled for their insemination history, previously isolated males mounted and inseminated females at significantly higher rates than previously socialized males. However, we found no evidence of social experience influencing our other measures of sexual competence: proportion of mounts directed at females, ability to overcome female resistance, and strength of opposite-sex social associations. We similarly did not detect effects of social experience on our female sexual competence metrics: propensity to avoid mounts, rate of successfully avoiding mounts, opposite-sex social association strength, and rate of receiving inseminations. Our findings indicate that early social experience does not improve sexual competence in male and female bed bugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janice L Yan
- Animal Behaviour Group, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Jack R Rosenbaum
- Animal Behaviour Group, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Selena Esteves
- Animal Behaviour Group, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Maggie L Dobbin
- Animal Behaviour Group, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Reuven Dukas
- Animal Behaviour Group, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
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Villa-Ayala P, Hernández-Reynoso J, Jiménez-Pérez A. Mate Selection on Anastrepha curvicauda: Effect of Weight, Age, and Virginity. INSECTS 2023; 14:317. [PMID: 37103132 PMCID: PMC10143166 DOI: 10.3390/insects14040317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2023] [Revised: 03/23/2023] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Sexual selection determines the evolution of the species by favoring some attributes that confer a reproductive advantage to those individuals with those attributes. Tephritidae flies do not always select the same traits when looking for a mating partner. Some aspects of the mating system of Anastrepha curvicauda are known; nevertheless, there is no information on the effect of age, size, and virginity when selecting a mating partner. We set up a series of experiments where a selector (male or female) may select between (a) an old or young partner, (b) a small or large partner, and (c) a virgin or mated partner. Males of A. curvicauda significantly preferred large, young, and virgin females, while females showed no preference for high- or low-quality males. The females' non-preference for a particular male is discussed in the light of their mating system.
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González-Tokman D. Effects of mating age and mate age on lifespan and reproduction in a horned beetle. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-022-03206-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Aich U, Chowdhury S, Jennions MD. Separating the effects of paternal age and mating history: Evidence for sex-specific paternal effect in eastern mosquitofish. Evolution 2022; 76:1565-1577. [PMID: 35544673 PMCID: PMC9543789 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2021] [Revised: 03/20/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Paternal age and past mating effort by males are often confounded, which can affect our understanding of a father's age effects. To our knowledge, only a few studies have standardized mating history when testing for effects of paternal age, and none has simultaneously disentangled how paternal age and mating history might jointly influence offspring traits. Here, we experimentally manipulated male mating history to tease apart its effects from those of paternal age on female fertility and offspring traits in the eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki). Male age did not affect female fertility. However, males with greater past mating effort produced significantly larger broods. Paternal age and mating history interacted to affect sons' body size: sons sired by old-virgin males were larger than those sired by old-mated males, but this was not the case for younger fathers. Intriguingly, however, sons sired by old-virgin males tended to produce fewer sperms than those sired by old-mated males, indicating a potential trade-off in beneficial paternal effects. Finally, neither paternal age nor mating history affected daughter's fitness. Our results highlight that variation in offspring traits attributed to paternal age effect could partly arise due to a father's mating history, and not simply to his chronological age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Upama Aich
- Division of Ecology & EvolutionResearch School of BiologyThe Australian National UniversityCanberraAustralia,School of Biological SciencesMonash UniversityClaytonVictoriaAustralia
| | - Shawan Chowdhury
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of QueenslandSaint LuciaQueenslandAustralia
| | - Michael D. Jennions
- Division of Ecology & EvolutionResearch School of BiologyThe Australian National UniversityCanberraAustralia
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Aich U, Bonnet T, Head ML, Jennions MD. Disentangling the effects of male age and mating history: Contrasting effects of mating history on precopulatory mating behavior and paternity success. Evolution 2021; 75:2867-2880. [PMID: 34598316 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2021] [Revised: 09/06/2021] [Accepted: 09/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Many studies ask whether young or older males are better at acquiring mates. Even so, how age affects reproductive success is still poorly understood because male age and mating history are confounded in most studies: older males usually have more mating experience. To what extent does mating history rather than age explain variation in male mating success? And how do mating history and male age determine paternity when there is also postcopulatory sexual selection? Here, we experimentally manipulated the mating history of old and young males in the eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki). We then recorded male mating behavior and share of paternity (1259 offspring from 232 potential sires) when they competed for mates and fertilizations. Old males, and males with no mating experience, spent significantly more time approaching females, and attempting to mate, than did young males and those with greater mating experience. Male age and mating history interacted to affect paternity: old males benefited from having previous mating experience, but young males did not. Our results highlight that the age-related changes in male reproductive traits and in paternity that have been described in many taxa may be partly attributable to male mating history and not simply to age itself.
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Affiliation(s)
- Upama Aich
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Timothee Bonnet
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Megan L Head
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Michael D Jennions
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
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Abraham S, Castillo G, Díaz V, VanNieuwenhove G, Murúa G, Rull J. Promiscous female Euxesta eluta derive nutrients for ovarian development by expelling and consuming ejaculates. INSECT SCIENCE 2020; 27:545-557. [PMID: 30592141 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2018] [Revised: 12/09/2018] [Accepted: 12/17/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Seminal gifts range from important material donations to items that provide little direct benefit to females. Promiscuous, female silk corn flies Euxesta eluta expel and consume male ejaculates immediately after mating. The evolution and function of this peculiar behavior are currently unknown. We performed a series of experiments aimed to: determine if females under different dietary regimes derive nutrients or water for survival and/or reproduction from ejaculate consumption, if males suffer a fitness cost from supplying females with ejaculates, and if females prefer to mate and/or are more likely to store sperm from well fed than nutritionally stressed presumably inferior males. Experiments revealed that protein deprived E. eluta females derive nutrients for ovarian development through consumption of ejaculates of protein fed males. No seminal products affecting survival appear to be transferred in the consumed ejaculate. However, ovarian development, in contrast to testes growth, occurs in detriment of longevity. Females preferred to mate with protein fed males, yet sperm retention in spermathecae was extremely rare after a single mating. This finding suggests that females could be exerting post copulatory control. A key question that remained to be addressed for the understanding of this puzzling and promiscuous mating system is what ecological factors or male traits drive females to retain sperm from one or several males in order to achieve and/or maximize fertilization potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Solana Abraham
- Laboratorio de Investigaciones Ecoetológicas de Moscas de la Fruta y sus Enemigos Naturales (LIEMEN), PROIMI-Biotecnología, CONICET, Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Gisela Castillo
- Laboratorio de Investigaciones Ecoetológicas de Moscas de la Fruta y sus Enemigos Naturales (LIEMEN), PROIMI-Biotecnología, CONICET, Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Viviana Díaz
- Laboratorio de Investigaciones Ecoetológicas de Moscas de la Fruta y sus Enemigos Naturales (LIEMEN), PROIMI-Biotecnología, CONICET, Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Guido VanNieuwenhove
- Fundacion Miguel Lillo, Inst. de Entomologia, Depto Zoología, Miguel Lillo 251, San Miguel de Tucuman, Tucuman, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e I.M.L, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Gabriela Murúa
- Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e I.M.L, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina
- Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres (EEAOC)-ITANOA CONICET, Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Juan Rull
- Laboratorio de Investigaciones Ecoetológicas de Moscas de la Fruta y sus Enemigos Naturales (LIEMEN), PROIMI-Biotecnología, CONICET, Tucumán, Argentina
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Okada K, Katsuki M, Kiyose K, Okada Y. Older males are more competitive in male fights and more aggressive toward females in the broad-horned flour beetle Gnatocerus cornutus. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-2815-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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Sexual experience has no effect on male mating or reproductive success in house mice. Sci Rep 2019; 9:12145. [PMID: 31434936 PMCID: PMC6704153 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-48392-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2019] [Accepted: 07/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to learn from experience can improve Darwinian fitness, but few studies have tested whether sexual experience enhances reproductive success. We conducted a study with wild-derived house mice (Mus musculus musculus) in which we manipulated male sexual experience and allowed females to choose between (1) a sexually experienced versus a virgin male, (2) two sexually experienced males, or (3) two virgin males (n = 60 females and 120 males). This design allowed us to test whether females are more likely to mate multiply when they encounter more virgin males, which are known to be infanticidal. We recorded females’ preference and mating behaviours, and conducted genetic paternity analyses to determine male reproductive success. We found no evidence that sexual experience influenced male mating or reproductive success, and no evidence that the number of virgin males influenced female multiple mating. Females always copulated with both males and 58% of the litters were multiple-sired. Females’ initial attraction to a male correlated with their social preferences, but neither of these preference behaviours predicted male reproductive success – raising caveats for using mating preferences as surrogates for mate choice. Male reproductive success was predicted by mating order, but unexpectedly, males that copulated first sired fewer offspring.
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Yasuda CI, Matsuo K, Wada S. Previous mating experience increases fighting success during male-male contests in the hermit crab Pagurus nigrofascia. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-015-1941-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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