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Angelakakis A, Turetzek N, Tuni C. Female mating rates and their fitness consequences in the common house spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9678. [PMID: 36590337 PMCID: PMC9797470 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Revised: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Mating systems, with varying female mating rates occurring with the same partner (monandry) or with multiple mates (polyandry), can have far reaching consequences for population viability and the rate of gene flow. Here, we investigate the mating rates of the common house spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum (Theridiidae), an emerging model for genetic studies, with yet undescribed reproductive behavior. It is hypothesized that spiders belonging to this family have low re-mating rates. We paired females twice with the same male (monandry) or with different males (polyandry), and recorded behaviors, mating success and fitness resulting from single- and double-matings, either monandrous or polyandrous. Despite the study being explorative in nature, we predict successful matings to be more frequent during first encounters, to reduce female risk of remaining unmated. For re-mating to be adaptive, we expect higher fitness of double-mated females, and polyandrous females to experience highest mating success and fitness if reproductive gains are achieved by mating with multiple partners. We show that the majority of the females did not mate, and those that did mated only once, not necessarily on their first encounter. The likelihood of re-mating did not differ between monandrous and polyandrous encounters and female mating experience (mated once, twice monandrous, twice polyandrous) did not affect fitness, indicated by similar offspring production. Female twanging of the web leads to successful matings suggesting female behavioral receptivity. Cannibalism rates were low and mostly occurred pre-copulatory. We discuss how the species ecology, with potentially high mating costs for males and limited female receptivity, may shape a mating system with low mating rates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Apostolos Angelakakis
- Behavioral Ecology, Faculty of BiologyLudwig‐Maximilians‐University MunichPlanegg‐MartinsriedGermany,Evolutionary Ecology, Faculty of BiologyLudwig‐Maximilians‐University MunichPlanegg‐MartinsriedGermany
| | - Natascha Turetzek
- Evolutionary Ecology, Faculty of BiologyLudwig‐Maximilians‐University MunichPlanegg‐MartinsriedGermany
| | - Cristina Tuni
- Behavioral Ecology, Faculty of BiologyLudwig‐Maximilians‐University MunichPlanegg‐MartinsriedGermany
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2
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Matzke M, Toft S, Bechsgaard J, Pold Vilstrup A, Uhl G, Künzel S, Tuni C, Bilde T. Sperm competition intensity affects sperm precedence patterns in a polyandrous gift-giving spider. Mol Ecol 2022; 31:2435-2452. [PMID: 35178803 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Revised: 01/26/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Sperm competition drives traits that enhance fertilization success. The amount of sperm transferred relative to competitors is key for attaining paternity. Female reproductive morphology and male mating order may also influence fertilization, however the outcome for sperm precedence under intense sperm competition remains poorly understood. In the polyandrous spider Pisaura mirabilis, males offer nuptial gifts which prolong copulation and increase sperm transfer, factors proposed to alter sperm precedence patterns under strong sperm competition. First, we assessed the degree of female polyandry by genotyping wild broods. A conservative analysis identified up to 4 sires, with a mean of 2 sires per brood, consistent with an optimal mating female rate. Then we asked whether intense sperm competition shifts sperm precedence patterns from first male priority, as expected from female morphology, to last male advantage. We varied sexual selection intensity experimentally and determined competitive fertilization outcome by genotyping broods. In double matings, one male monopolised paternity regardless of mating order. A mating order effect with first male priority was revealed when females were mated to 4 males, however this effect disappeared when females were mated to 6 males, likely due to increased sperm mixing. The proportion of males that successfully sired offspring drastically decreased with the number of competitors. Longer copulations translated into higher paternity shares independently of mating order, reinforcing the advantage of traits that prolong copulation duration under intense competition, such as the nuptial gift. Sperm competition intensity enhances the impact of competitive sexual traits and imposes multiple effects on paternity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magdalena Matzke
- Department of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Søren Toft
- Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Jesper Bechsgaard
- Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Astrid Pold Vilstrup
- Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.,Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Gabriele Uhl
- General and Systematic Zoology, University of Greifswald, Zoological Institute and Museum, Loitzer Straße 26, D-17489, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Sven Künzel
- Department for Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, August-Thienemann Straße 2, D-24306, Plön, Germany
| | - Cristina Tuni
- Department of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Trine Bilde
- Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
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Walter A, Bilde T. Avoiding the tragedy of the commons: Improved group-feeding performance in kin groups maintains foraging cooperation in subsocial Stegodyphus africanus spiders (Araneae, Eresidae). J Evol Biol 2021; 35:391-399. [PMID: 34953159 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 12/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Cooperation involving shared-resource systems is prone to 'the tragedy of the commons', where individuals act in their own self-interest to exploit the resource in a manner that is detrimental to the common good of all group members. Directing cooperation towards kin provides a solution to this problem, and predicts the differential performance depending on relatedness of group members. In subsocial spiders, juveniles live in transient groups that cooperate in hunting and communal feeding. Prey capture is costly in terms of risk of injury and investment of venom and digestive enzymes, and therefore presents a situation where individuals may attempt to avoid costly interactions and exploit the resource acquired by other group members. We tested the prediction that individuals differentiate participation and/or investment in cooperative prey capture and extra-oral digestion (injection of digestive enzymes into prey prior to the initiation of extraction of nutrients) in response to relatedness of group members with whom they interact, in the subsocial spider Stegodyphus africanus. The performance of groups and interactions over prey attack in groups of either related or mixed kin spiderlings were determined over a period of four weeks. We show that kin groups attack the prey significantly faster, recruit individuals to form feeding groups faster, extract prey body mass more efficiently, and experience less antagonistic interactions than groups of mixed relatedness, which ultimately translates into an elevated growth rate. These results indicate that related individuals are more willing to take risks and invest in communal digestion when foraging with kin, as predicted by inclusive fitness theory as a solution to the tragedy of the commons.
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Moska M, Mucha A, Wierzbicki H, Nowak B. Edible dormouse (
Glis glis
) population study in south‐western Poland provides evidence of multiple paternity and communal nesting. J Zool (1987) 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. Moska
- Department of Genetics Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences Wroclaw Poland
| | - A. Mucha
- Department of Genetics Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences Wroclaw Poland
| | - H. Wierzbicki
- Department of Genetics Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences Wroclaw Poland
| | - B. Nowak
- Department of Genetics Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences Wroclaw Poland
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Tuni C, Schneider J, Uhl G, Herberstein ME. Sperm competition when transfer is dangerous. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20200073. [PMID: 33070729 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Aggressive and cannibalistic female spiders can impose strong selection on male mating and fertilization strategies. Furthermore, the distinctive reproductive morphology of spiders is predicted to influence the outcome of sperm competition. Polyandry is common in spiders, leading to defensive male strategies that include guarding, plugging and self-sacrifice. Paternity patterns are highly variable and unlikely to be determined solely by mating order, but rather by relative copulation duration, deployment of plugs and cryptic female choice. The ability to strategically allocate sperm is limited, either by the need to refill pedipalps periodically or owing to permanent sperm depletion after mating. Further insights now rely on unravelling several proximate mechanisms such as the process of sperm activation and the role of seminal fluids. This article is part of the theme issue 'Fifty years of sperm competition'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Tuni
- Department of Biology II, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Munich, Germany
| | - Jutta Schneider
- Institute of Zoology, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, Hamburg 20146 Germany
| | - Gabriele Uhl
- General and Systematic Zoology, University of Greifswald, Bachstrasse 11/13, Greifswald 17489, Germany
| | - Marie E Herberstein
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Sydney NSW 2109, Australia
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Tuni C, Mestre L, Berger-Tal R, Lubin Y, Bilde T. Mate choice in naturally inbred spiders: testing the role of relatedness. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.08.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Speechley EM, Gasparini C, Evans JP. Female guppies increase their propensity for polyandry as an inbreeding avoidance strategy. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.08.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Berger-Tal R, Lubin Y, Settepani V, Majer M, Bilde T, Tuni C. Evidence for loss of nepotism in the evolution of permanent sociality. Sci Rep 2015; 5:13284. [PMID: 26333675 PMCID: PMC4558611 DOI: 10.1038/srep13284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2015] [Accepted: 07/23/2015] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Kin selected benefits of cooperation result in pronounced kin discrimination and nepotism in many social species and favour the evolution of sociality. However, low variability in relatedness among group members, infrequent competitive interactions with non-relatives, and direct benefits of cooperation may relax selection for nepotism. We tested this prediction in a permanently social spider, Stegodyphus dumicola that appears to fulfil these conditions. Sociality is a derived trait, and kin discrimination exists in sub-social closely related congeners and is likely a selective force in the sub-social route to permanent sociality in spiders. We examined whether social spiders show nepotism in cooperative feeding when genetic relatedness among group members was experimentally varied. We found no effect of relatedness on feeding efficiency, growth rate or participation in feeding events. Previous studies on sub-social species showed benefits of communal feeding with kin, indicating nepotistic cooperation. The lack of evidence for nepotism in the social species suggests that kin discrimination has been lost or is irrelevant in communal feeding. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the role of nepotism is diminished when cooperation evolves in certain genetic and ecological contexts, e.g. when intra-group genetic relatedness is homogeneous and encounters with competitors are rare.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reut Berger-Tal
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, 84990, Israel
- Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience, Ny Munkegade 116, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
- BioCircuits Institute University of California, San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive, Mail Code 0328 La Jolla, CA 92093-0328, USA
| | - Yael Lubin
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, 84990, Israel
| | - Virginia Settepani
- Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience, Ny Munkegade 116, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Marija Majer
- Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience, Ny Munkegade 116, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Trine Bilde
- Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience, Ny Munkegade 116, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Cristina Tuni
- Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience, Ny Munkegade 116, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
- Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Department Biology II, Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152 Planegg–Martinsried, Germany
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Berger-Tal R, Tuni C, Lubin Y, Smith D, Bilde T. Fitness consequences of outcrossing in a social spider with an inbreeding mating system. Evolution 2013; 68:343-51. [PMID: 24111606 DOI: 10.1111/evo.12264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2013] [Accepted: 08/12/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Inbreeding mating systems are uncommon because of inbreeding depression. Mating among close relatives can evolve, however, when outcrossing is constrained. Social spiders show obligatory mating among siblings. In combination with a female-biased sex ratio, sib-mating results in small effective populations. In such a system, high genetic homozygosity is expected, and drift may cause population divergence. We tested the effect of outcrossing in the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola. Females were mated to sib-males, to a non-nestmate within the population, or to a male from a distant population, and fitness traits of F1s were compared. We found reduced hatching success of broods from between-population crosses, suggesting the presence of population divergence at a large geographical scale that may result in population incompatibility. However, a lack of a difference in offspring performance between inbred and outbred crosses indicates little genetic variation between populations, and could suggest recent colonization by a common ancestor. This is consistent with population dynamics of frequent colonizations by single sib-mated females of common origin, and extinctions of populations after few generations. Although drift or single mutations can lead to population divergence at a relatively short time scale, it is possible that dynamic population processes homogenize these effects at longer time scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reut Berger-Tal
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boker Campus, 84990, Israel; Genetics, Ecology and Evolution, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade, 116, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.
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Tuni C, Berger-Tal R. High mortality and female-biased operational sex ratio result in low encounter rates and moderate polyandry in a spider. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2012. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2012.01990.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Tuni
- Department of Bioscience; Aarhus University; Ny Munkegade 1540; DK-8000; Aarhus C; Denmark
| | - Reut Berger-Tal
- Reut Berger-Tal; Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology; Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; 84990; Midreshet Ben-Gurion; Israel
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11
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Tuni C, Berger-Tal R. Male preference and female cues: males assess female sexual maturity and mating status in a web-building spider. Behav Ecol 2012. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ars001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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