Mate choice and cannibalism in a natural population of a stream goby,Rhinogobius sp.

Breeding ecology of the stream goby,Rhinogobius sp. LD (Large Dark), was investigated under natural conditions. Males selectively courted females of similar size to lead them to the nests, whereas females followed courting males preferentially when the relative male size was greater. Male-male competition for a female was relatively infrequent and not severe. Developmental stages of eggs and egg numbers in one nest indicated that males receive 1–3 clutches during one breeding cycle. Males guarding multiple clutches frequently ate some of the eggs, but those guarding single clutches rarely did so. Gravid females in the nest also frequently cannibalized eggs laid by a previous female, probably in order to extend the area available for egg deposition. Mate choice in this species is discussed in relation to paternal ability, limitation of available spawning area and the female-biased sex ratio.     

Larval dispersal and cannibalism in a natural population of Zophobas atratus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

A natural population, of the tenebrionid beetle Zophobas atratus was studied in an attic in El Zamorano, Honduras. Larvae were living in bat guano and were, densest in the deepest part of the guano. No pupae or pharate pupae were found in the guano: they were always located a small distance away from the guano pile. Adults occurred on the guano surface and the beams and tiles of the roof. When larvae of three different ages and weights were marked and released in the guano, only the older, larger larvae were recaptured away from the guano, indicating a correlation between larval dispersal and increased weight and/or age. When 50 pharate pupae were exposed to a natural population of active larvae, only 4 (8%) survived after 5 days. This intense cannibalism of pharate pupae is consistent with the hypothesis that inhibition of pupation by crowding and the associated pre-pupal dispersal evolved, at least partly, in response to cannibalism.     

Differential cannibalism and population dynamics in a host-parasitoid system

The effects of host cannibalism on a host-parasitoid system were explored through experiment and modelling. In individual encounters between parasitized and unparasitized Plodia interpunctella larvae, parasitized larvae were more likely to be cannibalized. Inclusion of this differential cannibalism into a simple Lotka-Volterra-type model of host-parasitoid population dynamics generates alternative stable states-including stable coexistence and extinction of the parasitoid — which depend on starting conditions. Possible mechanisms for differential cannibalism, and its implications for studies of host-parasitoid populations and biological control programmes are discussed.     

Sexual cannibalism by Octopus cyanea on a Pacific coral reef

Sexual cannibalism is rare in the animal kingdom. Although cannibalism is not uncommon in cephalopods, here we report the first documented case of sexual cannibalism. A large female Octopus cyanea was observed continuously for 2.5 days in Palau, Micronesia, when she was out of her den. On the second day, a small male followed and mated her 13 times during 3.5 h while she continued to forage over 70 m distance. After the 12th mating, she aggressively chased a different small octopus that barely escaped by jetting, inking and swimming upwards. Shortly thereafter, the original small male mated her a 13th time, but subsequently she attacked and suffocated him and spent 2 days cannibalizing him in her den. This sort of intraspecific aggression helps to explain several reports of octopuses mating out in the open, a behaviour that may serve to allow the smaller mate to escape cannibalism.     

Sexual behaviour: a receptor for sex control in Drosophila females

Male Drosophila manipulate the sexual behaviour of their female mating partners by release of a Sex-peptide, but how does this work? A G-protein-coupled receptor has now been identified which acts in the female flies to detect male Sex-peptide and trigger increased egg laying and reduced sexual receptivity.     

Cohabitation of juvenile females with mature males promotes sexual cannibalism in fishing spiders

Precopulatory sexual cannibalism, or female predation of a potentialmate before mating, illustrates an extreme intersexual conflict.Unlike sexual cannibalism occurring after mating, precopulatorysexual cannibalism cannot be construed as a male strategy. Thus,research on the adaptive significance of this phenomenon hasfocused on female benefits. In the present study, I test theidea that precopulatory sexual cannibalism represents an adaptivefemale trade-off between the material costs and benefits ofmating with a male (forgoing food, securing sperm) and preyingon a male (forgoing sperm, securing food). I pay particularattention to the rarely tested prediction that precopulatorysexual cannibalism by virgin females should increase as eachfemale's expectation of future mating opportunities increases.I use the phenomenon of cohabitation between adult males andjuvenile females nearing sexual maturity as a means to manipulatefemale expectation of future mate availability. Results indicatethat feeding on a male has significant positive effects on severalmeasures of female fecundity. However, the likelihood of precopulatoryattacks was not explained by a female's recent feeding history.Finally, as predicted, juvenile female cohabitation with maturemales (expectation of future mating opportunities) heightensthe prevalence of precopulatory attacks by virgin females, suggestingthat juvenile experience can alter a female's propensity forsexual cannibalism. This is the first study to suggest thatjuvenile experience can alter a female's propensity for sexualcannibalism. This finding emphasizes the point that studiesof sexual selection and mating systems need to consider theeffects of juvenile experience on adult behavior.     

Sexual dimorphism in leg length among orb-weaving spiders: a possible role for sexual cannibalism

The degree and direction of sexual dimorphism across different species is commonly attributed to differences in the selection pressures acting on males and females. The extent of these differences is especially apparent in species that practise sexual cannibalism, where the female attempts to capture and eat a courting male. Here, we investigate the relationship between sexual dimorphism in size and leg length, sexual cannibalism and courtship behaviour in three taxonomic groups of orb-weaving spiders, using morphological data from 249 species in 36 genera. Females are larger than males in all three taxonomic groups, and males have relatively longer legs than females in both the Araneinae and Tetragnathidae. Across genera within each taxonomic group, male body size is positively correlated with both female body size and male leg length, and female body size is positively correlated with female leg length. Sexual size dimorphism is negatively correlated with relative male leg length within the Araneinae, but not within either the Tetragnathidae or the Gasteracanthinae. There was no negative correlation between sexual size dimorphism and relative female leg length in any taxonomic group. We argue that the relationship between sexual size dimorphism and relative male leg length within the Araneinae may be the result of selection imposed by sexual cannibalism by females.     

Larval cannibalism in aphidophagous ladybirds: Influencing factors, benefits and costs

Spray retention on scentless chamomile and round-leaved mallow was characterized in relation to droplet size and travel speed. The effect of varying retention on biocontrol efficacy was studied using Colletotrichum truncatum and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides f. sp. malvae, the bioherbicide agents for the two weeds, respectively. In retention studies, a tracer dye solution was applied using a cabinet sprayer fitted with a fine, medium, or coarse nozzle at travel speeds of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 km/h that resulted in approximate application volumes of 500–2000 L/ha. Retention efficiency, a ratio between the volume retained on plants and actual volume applied, was calculated for each application. In general, finer sprays achieved higher retention efficiency on whole plants of both weeds. On an average, fine sprays resulted in 68% greater retention than coarse sprays on scentless chamomile and 22–59% on round-leaved mallow. Faster travel speeds increased spray retention only slightly. Applying the biocontrol agents at 500 L/ha with different droplet sizes showed different effects on weed control on scentless chamomile and round-leaved mallow. C. truncatum applied with fine droplets was more efficacious than treatments with coarser droplets on scentless chamomile. On round-leaved mallow, however, the efficacy of C. gloeosporioides f. sp. malvae did not appear to be substantially affected by the droplet size. This varying effect may be due to reduced retention on the vertical stems of round-leaved mallow, which is critical to biocontrol of this weed by C. gloeosporioides f.sp. malvae.     

Evolution of cannibalism: referring to costs of cannibalism

A rational explanation for cannibalism is that it would be favored under conditions of crowding of conspecific individuals and/or low availability of alternative prey with the fear of starvation, so as to maximize individual fitness. Cannibalism has, however, not evolved and is not maintained by a simple individual optimization, while it has evolved and is maintained as a game among population members. We analysed the attainable state of an evolutionary cannibalism game within a framework that reflects the minimum essence of cause-effect in the cannibalism phenomenon. Cannibalism is predator-prey interaction among conspecifics. Immediate direct payoffs (survival in the interaction among conspecifics) and indirect payoffs (growth results in potential productivity and survival against the threat of starvation) would be included. No morphological specialization and no size priority of cannibalism individuals are assumed as conservative situations in which we analyse the possibility of cannibalism. Cannibalism would be possible under the conservative condition, if initially the wild population's cannibalism rate is not sufficiently lower than a threshold value. Crowding and/or low availability of alternative prey with the fear of starvation facilitates cannibalism evolution. Energy gain from conspecific prey would be attenuated by costs of counterattacks by conspecific victims and by challenge cost of its own. Discounting net intake energy required in the arms race for cannibalism challenge result in a relative disadvantage of having a high cannibalism rate and makes an evolutionary equilibrium of low cannibalism rate, even when potential profitability of conspecific prey is high.     

Sexual cannibalism in the fishing spider and a model for the evolution of sexual cannibalism based on genetic constraints

Several hypotheses have been proposed for the evolution of sexual cannibalism by females. Newman and Elgar (1991) suggested that sexual cannibalism prior to mating by virgin female spiders may have evolved as a result of female foraging considerations. According to this model, an adult female's decision to mate or cannibalize a courting male should be based on an assessment of the male's value as a meal versus his value as a mate. The current study provides an empirical test of the assumptions and predictions of this model in the sexually cannibalistic fishing spider. Adult females were subjected to different food treatments, and exposed to adult males in the laboratory. However, only one of the assumptions of the model and none of its five predictions were upheld. We failed to find any effects of female foraging, female mating status, female size, male size or time of the season on females' behaviour towards courting males. Females behaved stereotypically, and many females were left unmated despite numerous mating opportunities. We also demonstrate costs of sexual cannibalism in a natural population. We propose that the act of sexual cannibalism in the fishing spider is non-adaptive, and develop a model for the evolution of premating sexual cannibalism in spiders based on genetic constraints. According to this hypothesis, sexual cannibalism by adult females may have evolved as an indirect result of selection for high and non-discriminate aggression during previous ontogenetic stages. Genetic covariance between different components of aggressive behaviour may constrain the degree to which (1) juvenile and adult aggression and/or (2) aggression towards conspecifics and heterospecifics can vary independently. We briefly review the support for our model, and suggest several critical tests that may be used to assess the assumptions and predictions of the model.     

Evolution of cannibalism in an age-structured population

One of Bobisud's models for the evolution of cannibalism is reanalyzed by applying the method of finding evolutionarily stable strategies (or ESS's). It is demonstrated that ‘no cannibalism’ never will be an ESS if the initial rate of cannibalism is too large. It is further demonstrated that individual selection may even result in the evolution of cannibalism during food abundance. Some empirical case studies are briefly discussed in relation to this model.     

Sexual cannibalism in Nephila plumipes as a consequence of female life history strategies

The evolution of sexual cannibalism has been modelled as both an adaptive and nonadaptive female strategy. Recent evidence from several species suggests a connection between female foraging and sexual cannibalism, but the precise benefits for females have remained obscure. Here, we investigate the difference between cannibalistic and noncannibalistic female Nephila plumipes by removing the potential nutritional benefit of cannibalism. Courting and mating males that were killed by a female were immediately removed so that the female could not consume them. Nevertheless, cannibalistic females gained more mass from maturation to oviposition and produced larger first clutches than noncannibalistic females, although cannibalistic females matured at a smaller size and mass than noncannibalistic females. In juvenile instars, mass gain was generally smaller in females that moulted in a good condition but intermoult intervals were shorter. However, the time from maturity to oviposition was not shorter in females that matured in a good condition. Male behaviour did not differ according to the risk of cannibalism. We suggest that sexual cannibalism in N. plumipes is a side‐effect of an increased foraging vigour of females that matured at a smaller size and body mass. Selection pressure on males to avoid cannibalism may be weak because of limited mating opportunities.     

Stabilization of population fluctuations due to cannibalism promotes resource polymorphism in fish

Resource polymorphism is a well-known phenomenon in many taxa, assumed to be a consequence of strong competition for resources and to be facilitated by stable environments and the presence of several profitable resources on which to specialize. In fish, resource polymorphism, in the form of planktivore-benthivore pairs, is found in a number of species. We gathered literature data on life-history characteristics and population dynamics for 15 fish species and investigated factors related to the presence of such resource polymorphism. This investigation indicated that early cannibalism and low overall population variability are typically associated with the presence of resource polymorphism. These findings match previously reported patterns of population dynamics for size-structured fish populations, whereby early cannibalism has been shown to decrease temporal variation in population dynamics and to equalize the profitability of the zooplankton and macroinvertebrate resources. Our study suggests that competition alone is not a sufficient condition for the development of resource polymorphism because overly strong competition is typically associated with increased temporal variation (environmental instability). We conclude that although resource competition is an important factor regulating the development of resource polymorphism, cannibalism may also play a fundamental role by dampening population oscillations and possibly by equalizing the profitability of different resources.