Female Mate Preference for Males Having Long and Symmetric Fins in the Bower-holding Cichlid Cyathopharynx furcifer

Female mate preference in a bower-holding cichlid, Cyathopharynx furcifer, was studied in Lake Tanganyika. Most males held territories with crater-shaped bowers in sand, but some males held territories without bowers. Territories were distributed adjacently and females visited them to spawn. After engaging in circling behaviour with the male, a female deposited eggs in the bower. Soon after spawning, the female picked the eggs up into her mouth and brooded them in places away from male territories. Female mate choice appeared to follow three steps: 1) females visited only bower-holding male territories, and more frequently visited territories of males that performed courtship displays at a higher frequency and had longer pelvic fins; 2) females preferred to start circling with males having longer and more symmetrical pelvic fins; 3) females chose males with more symmetrical pelvic fins as their mates. Less than 7% of females that visited male territories spawned eggs in the bowers. In contrast to other bower-holding species, bower size did not correlate with male reproductive success in C. furcifer. Bowers may therefore be essential as spawning sites or may function as a species recognition character for females. Female choice may be dependent instead on males having long and symmetrical pelvic fins apparent during the circling behaviour carried out in the bowers.     

Polygyny in the yellow-headed blackbird: female choice versus male competition

Several assumptions and predictions of the polygyny threshold and sexy son hypotheses, which were proposed to explain the maintenance of polygyny on the basis of female choice, were examined. An alternative neutral mate choice hypothesis in which male competition is responsible for polygyny was also examined. For the yellow-headed blackbird, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus, neither territory nor male features affected female choice of mate or female reproductive success. In the study population, polygyny occurred because males competed to hold territories in order to gain access to females. Since females settled apparently randomly, males that were more aggreessive and were therefore able to secure large territories had larger harems. Several criteria must be met in order for the neutral mate choice hypothesis to apply. Evidence from the literature suggests that for some species the criteria are not met and polygyny occurs due to female choice. However, several studies provide evidence that the neutral mate choice hypothesis may apply in some populations.     

Uganda kob prefer high-visibility leks and territories

In lekking species, where males provide estrous females withlittle more than sperm, it has been widely supposed that theonly possible benefits to females of mate choice are genetic.We studied female choice of leks and territories in a reduncineantelope, the Uganda kob (Kobus kob thomasi), and found thatfemales consistently preferred high-visibility mating sites.Leks were elevated and had shorter grass and fewer thicketsthan the surrounding areas. Changes in the number of male andfemale kob on 10 leks were correlated with changes in surroundinggrass height, and both females and males preferred leks withexperimentally reduced grass height over neighboring controls.Within a lek, territory popularity was the primary determinantof male daily mating success, and females preferred territoriesrelatively far from thickets, but removal of thickets did notaffect female territory preferences. Because lion hunting successon kob increases with grass height and thicket density, femalesmay benefit directly from these preferences by reducing therisk of predation.     

Resource defence on exploded leks: do male little bustards, T. tetrax, control resources for females?

In lekking species, female choice of particular males for mating is based on male characters that are not related to immediate gains such as access to resources. This is, however, unclear in exploded-lekking species, as male territories may contain resources for females; it is thus the degree to which males regulate female access to these resources to obtain matings that should distinguish lekking from nonlekking species. We investigated the relationship between resources for females, male distribution and male attractiveness in little bustards. One parameter determining resource quality for females was invertebrate availability: females laid eggs in grassland fields (grass, alfalfa and ryegrass) with significantly higher invertebrate biomass than others of similar cover but nests were in areas that did not have higher invertebrate biomass, at a scale of 1 km². Males set up territories and females laid eggs in areas that had a high proportion of alfalfa, but not high mean invertebrate biomass. Thus males set up territories at resources potentially used by females, but that appeared not to be critical for breeding. In addition, females did not use the amount of resources defended as a criterion for mate choice, as male attractiveness was not related to various territorial resources. Locating the lek in areas attractive to females might be a way of increasing the probability of encounter between the sexes. Copyright 2002 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.     

Pairing strategies and mate choice in female robins Erithacus rubecula

Female European robins (Erithacus rubecula) adopted three different pairing strategies. These were, in order of frequency: moving on to a male's territory; fusing her territory with that of a neighbouring male; and being joined by a male on her territory. Although females were not free to choose between strategies during a particular season, individuals frequently changed strategy between different years. Their behaviour suggested that they were exercising mate choice, although the scope for such choice was limited by a strong tendency for a female to pair in areas where she had lived previously (her ‘Familiar Areas’). Males with large territories were more likely to pair and tended to pair earlier than those defending small territories. Female pairing strategy was also correlated with the area of their own territory. Although it is considered likely that some unidentified confounding variable was responsible for at least part of these relationships, possible causal explanations involving territory size are discussed. These include mate choice and a random settlement model. However the simplest explanation for the advantage enjoyed by males on large territories is that their territories were more likely to overlap with females' Familiar Areas.     

Male spawning success and female choice in the mottled triplefin,Forsterygion varium (Pisces: Tripterygiidae)

A detailed analysis was made of the variation in spawning success among male Forsterygion (э Tripterygion) varium. The aim was to assess whether females were mating selectively and, if so, to examine the basis of that choice. Eggs were laid on small rocks within the males' territories. Females did not distribute eggs randomly among males. Some males guarded as many as 23000 eggs in one breeding season, while others experienced little or no breeding success. Male spawning success was positively correlated with both their size and some characteristics of their territories, namely the amount of spawning substratum and the presence of a large boulder adjacent to the territory. Experimental manipulations indicated that female choice of males was based on these features. Addition of small rocks into the territories of previously unsuccessful males resulted in a significant increase in spawning success. Conversely, spawning success of the most successful males decreased when small rocks were removed from their territories. When successful males were removed, each territory was occupied by small males; however, there was no significant change in the spawning success of these males. This experiment suggested that, although territory quality was important, female mating decisions could also be influenced by male characteristics such as body size.     

Mating patterns of female Leon Springs pupfish Cyprinodon bovinus

In a field study of Leon Springs pupfish Cyprinodon bovinus, two questions about female promiscuity were investigated. First, were females selective in the males with whom they spawned or were they unselective, spawning randomly among males? Second, how promiscuous were the females, i.e. with how many males did they spawn? If simply spawning with many males maximized a female's reproductive success, then females might be expected to spawn randomly with as many males as possible. Alternatively, if females were selective but engaged in multiple mating, they would limit their spawning to preferred males. In the only wild population of this endangered fish, breeding males defend closely associated territories in the shallow margins of a single desert pool. No territories were observed elsewhere in the pool. Therefore, all territorial males were present simultaneously and females could survey all of them, depositing any number of eggs with one, a few or many males. Rather than spawning randomly, females surveyed many males first, visited relatively few males and ultimately spawned with a small fraction of those available males. With increasing numbers of spawns, however, females increased the number of different mates with whom they spawned. Thus, females showed a bet‐hedging tactic of having a narrow mate preference while also laying eggs in the territories of other males, possibly to reduce egg predation and to avoid inbreeding.     

Male-male Competition and Female Mate Choice through Courtship Display in the Territorial Damselfish Stegastes nigricans

Both sexes of the herbivorous damselfish Stegastes nigricans maintain individual feeding territories. These territories are distributed contiguously, forming distinct colonies. Females visit male territories to spawn, and eggs are guarded by males until hatching. Male-male competition and female mate choice were studied in two colonies of different size compositions. Only larger individuals bred in both colonies. Some males in the large colony, that were larger than the breeding males in the small colony, did not succeed in reproducing probably because of severe attacks by the larger males while courting. However, females did not choose large size among breeding males. The most important male characteristic in female choice was the frequency of courtship displays in both colonies. Females in the large colony chose males mainly on the basis of the frequency of displays conducted in the females' territories, whereas females in the small colony chose males on the basis of the frequency of displays conducted in the males' territories. This difference may be a result of the difference in colony size. The distances between females' and males' territories were much greater in the large colony, and, because females cannot see courtship displays conducted in distant male territories, males in the large colony may have had to visit female territories frequently in order to conduct courtship near the females.     

Territorial behavior of both sexes in the water striderMetrocoris histrio (Hemiptera: Gerridae) during the mating season

Territorial behavior of overwintered individuals of Metrocoris histriowas observed in an upstream area. Adults of both sexes held territories, but male territories were larger than those of females. Severe competition occurred among males for territories which give them access to receptive females. The effects of male body length and midleg length on establishment of territories were not significant. The effect of female midleg length on activity of females entering preferred foraging sites was equally not significant. Instead, territorial behavior increased with male age and males stayed longer at prime sites. Females of intermediate age were likely to occupy prime sites. Females had longer territory residence time than males. The sexes were dimorphic with respect to midleg length, and dimorphism in M. histriomay be related to a difference in life history, in that sexual selection may be relaxed due to asynchronous adult emergence patterns.     

Territory and male quality do not influence settlement of yearling female willow ptarmigan

A common assumption in territory and mate selection models isthat individuals evaluate the qualities of territories and/orpartners and then choose the best ones. We determined whetherthis assumption was correct for yearling female willow ptarmigan(Lagopus lagopus). Yearling females did not choose partnersbased on the characteristics of the territories or of the malesthat we measured. In addition, the first females to settle didnot appear to obtain better territories or better partners thanthose settling later; date of settling was not related to subsequentsurvival, reproductive success, or quality of chicks produced.To evaluate whether choices of territories and partners wereconsistent among females, we manipulated settlement such thattwo sets of yearling females had the same suite of territoriesand males available. We found no consistent patterns of territoryand mate choice. We concluded that, in this population, yearlingfemales did not choose where to settle based on the relativequalities of territories or partners. Females may have beenunable to assess differences among territories when settlingbecause all territories were covered with snow.     

Direct selection on mate choice: female redlip blennies pay more for better mates

Sexual selection may be reduced by costs of mate choice suchas predation risk and energetic expense. Despite their theoreticalimportance, such costs have rarely been quantified or relatedto the quality of mate obtained. We performed such a study witha wild population of redlip blennies in Barbados. In this coralreef fish, females traveled 0.2–12 m from their feedingterritories to the territories of nesting males, where theyspawned and left their eggs in the males' care. Previous studieshave shown that larger and older males are better parents andare preferred by females. Here, we found that long-distancetrips by females were made primarily toward larger males, andthe extra distance traveled beyond the nearest male was correlatedwith the improvement in size of male obtained. Comparisons withfeeding budgets while the females remained on their home territoriessuggested that costs from lost time and energy were minor, andno predation attempts on females were observed. However, onlonger trips the females faced more aggressive attacks fromdamselfishes, whose territories they crossed. In contrast, noattacks were observed from damselfish when the blennies remainedon their own territories. These attacks appeared to be responsiblefor a greater incidence of scars on females than on males. Thisdifference between the sexes became more pronounced as spawningprogressed, and then decreased as females healed during thenonspawning interval. Thus, female blennies endure a cost ofinterspecific harassment which is correlated with the qualityof mate obtained. This cost may restrain sexual selection inthis species.     

Female Choice Predicts the Best Father in a Biparental Fish,the Midas Cichlid (Cichlasoma citrinellum)

The Midas cichlid is a monogamous, biparental species. It breeds in a highly competitive system where pairs have a low probability of raising fry to independence. Both parents must cooperate to retain the territory and protect the fry from predation. Previous experiments showed that females prefer large, aggressive and sexually experienced males as mates but males do not display any consistent preferences. Here I present the results of two experiments designed to see whether qualities preferred by females correlate with increased success in retaining territories and in providing parental care. Pairs with either large or aggressive males had an advantage in appropriating and holding a breeding territory; reproductive experience conferred no advantage in usurping a territory. Aggressive and reproductively experienced males had an advantage in defending the brood from predators of fry, but size had no effect. Thus, the qualities preferred by females confer advantages both in holding territories and in protecting fry. In contrast, males need not be selective because females, once in possession of a brood, defend it equally well regardless of size, aggressiveness, or reproductive experience. The system is one of mutually enforced monogamy based on female choice; females drive the system because they provide more investment than do males (combining gametes and time) and because this investment is a reliable resource to the male.     

Mate choice by marsh wrens: the influence of male and territory quality

If females choose breeding situations to maximize their fitness, then those features of the male and/or territory that are important in mate selection by females should affect female fitness, be assessable prior to mating, and vary among males. The purpose of this study was to identify characteristics of male quality and territory quality that fit these criteria for marsh wrens Cistothorus palustris. The male's contribution to nest defence appeared not to affect female success or choice. However, females that received male assistance with feeding young produced more and heavier fledglings than females without assistance. Males that fed young did not attract more mates. Few males in this population fed young, and no relationship was found between feeding effort and physical or behavioural features of the male. Results of multivariate analyses suggest that, within sites, the measures of territory quality used here cannot explain the variance in the number of young fledged per female or male harem size. The examination of arbitrary territories showed that male pairing success, female settlement order and predation patterns were not significantly correlated between years. The results suggest that territory quality does not influence female success or choice. These results are discussed in the light of earlier attempts to relate features of males and territories to mate selection by female passerines.     

Correlational selection on lay date and life-history traits: experimental manipulations of territory and nest site quality

Abundant evidence suggests that females may engage in mate choice to gain nongenetic (material) benefits from high-quality territories; however, the selective consequences that influence those choices are not well understood. We studied the fitness effects of territory quality and incubation temperature on juvenile lizards in nature. We manipulated territory quality by redistributing rocks between pairs of neighboring home ranges. Rock manipulations set up adjacent plots that were either experimentally improved or reduced in quality. We incubated eggs from field-caught gravid females in each of three temperature treatments in the laboratory (low, medium, and high temperature). Progeny were released in either experimentally improved or reduced-quality plots upon hatching, and the following spring we measured survival as a function of egg size and laying date. We conducted concurrent studies of the thermal environment on experimental territories. Improved territories provided significantly more hours for lizards to behaviorally thermoregulate at their preferred body temperature and also provided nest sites with incubation conditions that were closer to optimal compared with reduced-quality plots. Reduced-quality plots were significantly more variable in quality. Finally, we measured significant correlational selection between egg mass and laying date on manipulated plots in two separate years. Results indicate the influence of environmental variation on correlational selection on life-history traits.     

High costs of female choice in a lekking lizard

Although the cost of mate choice is an essential component of the evolution and maintenance of sexual selection, the energetic cost of female choice has not previously been assessed directly. Here we report that females can incur high energetic costs as a result of discriminating among potential mates. We used heart rate biologging to quantify energetic expenditure in lek-mating female Galápagos marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus). Receptive females spent 78.9+/-23.2 kJ of energy on mate choice over a 30-day period, which is equivalent to approximately (3/4) of one day's energy budget. Females that spent more time on the territories of high-quality, high-activity males displayed greater energetic expenditure on mate choice, lost more mass, and showed a trend towards producing smaller follicles. Choosy females also appear to face a reduced probability of survival if El Ni?o conditions occur in the year following breeding. These findings indicate that female choice can carry significant costs, and suggest that the benefits that lek-mating females gain through mating with a preferred male may be higher than previously predicted.     

Male contesis for territories and females in the fly Dryomyza Anilis

Dryomyza anilis males defend the small carcasses on which females oviposit as well as the females themselves during copulation and oviposition. Contests over territories and females, were compared to assess the way different asymmetries affect the outcome of a struggle. In contests over females with a lot of eggs the rate of take-over was lower than in contests over immature females, but the size of the female or her size relative to the owner did not affect the outcome. In territorial disputes and territories was the size difference between the opponents. Fifty-three per cent of the contests over females and 39% of territorial struggles resulted in a take-over. In take-overs, owners were smaller than copulating males or territory owners on average. Take-overs are part of a process in which resource owners continue to change until one is strong enough to defend the resource successfully. Contests over females lasted significantly longer than those over territories, which suggests that for males females are more valuable than territories. This is to be expected as territories are of value because they ultimately increase the probability of obtaining females. A positional advantage or the higher payoff of the owner in disputes over females may be the reason for the lower rate of take-over in female defence than in territorial struggles between opponents of similar size.     

Habitat preferences of a corallivorous reef fish: predation risk versus food quality

Many animals preferentially select a habitat from a range of those potentially available. However, the consequences of these preferences for distribution and abundance, and the underlying basis of habitat preferences are often unknown. The present study, conducted at Great Keppel Island, Australia, examined how distribution and abundance of an obligate corallivorous filefish, Oxymonacanthus longirostris, relates to coral architecture and diversity. The main drivers of the distribution and abundance of O. longirostris among reefs were coral species richness and availability of branching coral. Feeding territories had a higher percentage of Acropora coral than surrounding habitat. In addition, feeding territories had a higher percentage of the structurally important branching coral, Acropora nobilis, and a primary prey species, Acropora millepora. A series of pair-wise choice experiments in which both structural complexity and coral tissue quality were independently manipulated showed that habitat choice was primarily based on structural complexity and shelter characteristics. In addition, the choice for the preferred coral (A. nobilis) was stronger in the presence of a piscivorous fish. These results indicate that species-diverse coral habitats, which provide sufficient structural complexity along with nutritionally important prey, are essential for population persistence of this small, corallivorous reef fish.     

Is female preference for male repertoires due to sensory bias?

There are several possible explanations for the female preference for male repertoires in birds. These males are older, and have better territories; thus there are functional reasons for females to prefer these males. However, there is an alternative explanation; females may habituate less quickly to song repertoires than single songs. I tested whether females have a non-functional, sensory bias for male song repertoires, by testing female preference for a repertoire in zebra finches (Taenopygia guttata), a species in which males possess a single stereotyped song. Females chose between a male repertoire of four different phrases created from the song phrase of one individual and that of one of those phrases repeated four times (natural zebra finch song). Females were also given a choice between the above repertoire and a song made from the phrases of four related males (''family'' stimulus). I tested female preference by training females to press a button for presentation of a song stimulus, and counting the number of button presses. Females preferred the song repertoire to a single phrase song, and did not differentiate between the repertoire and song phrases from four males. Evidence from the Estrildidae indicates that having a single song is the ancestral state for zebra finches, so the preference is not ancestral.     

Reproductive Behaviour of Japanese Tubesnout, Aulichthys japonicus (Gasterosteiformes), in the Natural Habitat Compared with Relatives

We observed significant sexual dimorphism in size (females > males) and in colour in Japanese tubesnout, Aulichthys japonicus, in Aburatsubo Bay, central Japan, and Otsuchi Bay, northern Japan. This species is known to spawn its eggs into ascidians. We observed reproductive behaviour of tubesnout in the natural environment in both bays. All the males established territories at harbours or rocky shores and showed conspicuous nuptial colouration with metallic green or blue on their snout and bright yellow on the body. Females had a dark brown body with remarkable white spots. The male territories varied somewhat in location and extent on a daily basis. The individual male size and territory size were not correlated. The females usually stayed in the seaweed beds where no males were present. Males and females were distributed separately, and the gravid females visited the male territories in groups to spawn. The territorial males courted the gravid females by rushing and returning, and tried to lead the females to the particular place of their territories by tail beating. We discuss nuptial colouration, courtship behaviour and territoriality in comparison to the related species; Aulorhynchus flavidus, Hypoptychus dybowskii, and gasterosteid fishes.     

Drinking competition in vervet monkeys

During a period of water shortage, adult female and adult male vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) obtained water by different methods. Females drank from tree-holes within their normal home range, while males invaded the territories of neighbouring groups. Higher-ranking females had access to preferred tree-holes. The mortality rate was high in both sexes and was greater in low-ranking than in high-ranking animals.