Courtship song, male agonistic encounters, and female mate choice in the house cricket,Acheta domesticus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) |
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Authors: | C Mindy Nelson Thomas G Nolen |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Biology, University of Miami, Cox Science Building, 33124 Coral Gables, Florida |
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Abstract: | Whether female crickets choose among males based on characteristics of the courtship song is uncertain, but in many species,
males not producing courtship song do not mate. In the house cricket,Acheta domesticus, we examined whether a female chose or rejected a male based on his size, latency to chirp, latency to produce courtship
song, or rate of the high-frequency pulse of courtship song (“court rate”). We confirmed that females mated only with males
that produced courtship song, but we found no evidence that the other factors we measured affected a female’s decision to
mate. In addition, we investigated whether the outcome of male agonistic encounters affected the subsequent production of
courtship song. In one experiment, we observed courtship and mating behavior when a single female was placed with a pair of
males following a 10-min interaction period between the two males. Winners of male agonistic encounters had higher mating
success. However, winners and losers of agonistic encounters were not different in their likelihood or latency to produce
courtship song or in the number of times they were disrupted by the other male in the pair. In a second experiment, we allowed
two males to interact for a 10-min period, but following this interaction period, we placed a female with each male separately
and observed courtship and mating behavior. The mating success of winners and losers was not different under these circumstances,
and we found no differences between winners and losers in any subsequent courtship or mating behavior examined. We conclude
that winning agonistic encounters influences a male’s mating success in ways other than his production of courtship song and
this effect is lost when winning and losing males are separated and each is given an opportunity to mate. |
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Keywords: | courtship song agonistic behavior mate choice cricket Acheta domesticus |
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