Male emergence timing and mating success in the funnel-web spider,Agelena limbata (Araneae: Agelenidae)

Field observations on the relationship between male mating success and emergence timing in the funnel-web spider,Agelena limbata, were conducted.Agelena limbata is an annual species and adult males appear slightly earlier than adult females in July. As males deposit a copulatory plug at the female epigynum after copulation, copulation with virgin females is important to males. The number of copulations in males with virgin females, which strongly correlates with the longevity of males and the number of females that males courted, did not correlate with the emergence timing of males. Early emerged males and females were significantly larger in size than later ones, but the correlation coefficient between the emerged date and the cephalothorax width was not strong. Males that emerged earlier did not have any advantage in copulating with larger and more fecund females. Furthermore, virgin females first copulated on average 7.9 days after their final molt and the mortality rate of adult males increased after the final molt. These factors may favor the smaller degree of protandry in male emergence timing inA. limbata.     

Utilization of the ambient concentration as a criterion for steady state after exponential growth: Some culture experiments with optimum or suboptimum N nutrition

Culture experiments are described in which Plantago lanceolata L. was grown from seedling till flowering under steady state conditions of optimum or suboptimum nitrate nutrition. In the optimum treatment, plants had free access to nitrate. In two suboptimum treatments, nitrate was added with constant relative addition rates (RAR) of 0.18 or 0.10 d^–1 during the phase of constant relative uptake rates (RUR) of the plants and then with RAR's that were reduced stepwise from 0.18 to 0.07 d^–1 or 0.10 to 0.04 d^–1 when nutrient absorption gradually decreased. Reduction of the RAR's was aimed at maintenance of a balance between RAR and RUR. External nitrate concentrations were measured to monitor the reductions. In the vegetative phase, the relative growth rate (RGR) and the root weight ratio (RWR) of P. lanceolata were constant. In the reproductive phase, RGR's were constant, but lower, and RWR's decreased. Concentrations of organic-N in leaves were stable during the experimental period while those of the peduncles were lower and decreased with time. The ratio of reproductive to vegetative weight increased linearly with time. A number of plant parameters varied with N supply. ei]Section editor: T W Rufty     

Size-dependent reproduction in Australian alpine Ranunculus

Abstract The effect of plant size on reproduction in four species of alpine Ranunculus (R. muelleri, R. dissectifolius, R. graniticola and R. niphophilus) was investigated in two sites over two seasons in the field on a total of 190 plants. The effects of plant size (number of leaves) and number of flowers on the number of anthers, ovules and seed per flower and per plant were determined. There was a positive relationship between several measures of reproduction and plant size in all four species, indicating that reproduction is size-dependent. All the results indicate that the main factor controlling the amount of seed produced by alpine Ranunculus is the size of the plant. Specifically, bigger plants produced more seed by producing more flowers, not by producing more ovules per flower, or higher seed set per flower. Correspondingly, bigger plants produced more anthers by producing more flowers, rather than by producing flowers with more anthers. The total number of seeds produced by a plant was directly proportional to plant size in the four species. Therefore, reproductive effort should not vary with plant size in the four species.     

Mating and diapause in hibernating adults ofMenida scotti puton (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)

InMenida scotti aduts which mate during hibernation, we examined the effect of photoperiod on diapause induction in terms of the developmental degree of reproductive organs and corpora allata. In a hibernating population, mating season and physiological changes related to dipause were investigated. When newly emerged adults were reared under long- or short-day conditions, reservoir of the ectodermal accessory gland and corpora allata in males developed, while the developments of ovary and corpora allata in females were suppressed under both conditions. This suggests that diapause of this species is induced only in females independently photoperiodic conditions during adult stage. In a hibernating population, mating was observed from early to late November and from late March to early May. Observations of the development of reproductive organs and corpora allata suggest that diapause is induced only in females in the former period, while both sexes are not in diapause in the latter period.     

THE ROLE OF ECDYSTEROIDS IN THE REPRODUCTIVE DIAPAUSE OF DERMACENTOR NIVEUS NEUMANN

Abstract  The ecdysteroid levels in hemolymph, ovary, synganglion and whole body of diapausing female Dermacentor niveus were detected by HPLC, and compared with the results of nondiapausing female. It is revealed that the ecdysteroid levels in hemolymph and ovary of diapausing female are similar basically to that of nondiapausing female in the first few days after engorgement. From the 10th day after engorgement, the ecdysteroid levels of diapausing female decreased and even became distinctly lower than that of nondiapausing female. The paucity of ecdysteroids in these individuals would influence the normal development of oocytes. In order to explore the effect of ecdyateroids on the diapausing female, we injected 20-hydroxyecdysone with different dosages at different time into the ticks, and found that after just complete engorgement the injection with large dosages (10000 and 1375 ng/tick) caused death of the ticks. From 10th to 20th day after engorgement the ecdysteroid levels of diapausing female are lower than that of nondiapausing one before oviposition, the injection with certain dosages 50, 70 and 100 ng/tick> of 20E can accelerate vitellogenesis and terminate reproductive diapause, but the amount of eggs produced by them is less than that produced by nondiapausing female. The termination of diapause in female of ixcdid tick by exogenous ecdysteroids is reported for the first time.     

Clutch size, offspring performance, and intergenerational fitness

It is now generally recognized that clutch size affects morethan offspring number. In particular, clutch size affects asuite of traits associated with offspring reproductive performance.Optimal clutch size is therefore determined not by the numericallymost productive clutch but by the clutch that maximizes collectiveoffspring reproductive success. Calculation of optimal clutchsize thus requires a consideration of ecological factors operatingduring an intergenerational time frame, spanning the lifetimeof the egglaying adult and the lifetimes of her offspring. Theoptimal clutch cannot define reproductive values in advance,but instead requires that the strategy chosen is the best responseto the set of reproductive values that it itself generates.In this article, we introduce methods for solving this problem,based on an iterative solution of the equation characterizingexpected lifetime reproductive success. We begin by consideringa semelparous organism, in which case lifetime reproductivesuccess is a function only of the state of the organism. Foran iteroparous organism, lifetime reproductive success dependsupon both state and time, so that our methods extend the usualstochastic dynamic programming approach to the evaluation oflifetime reproductive success. The methods are intuitive andeasily used. We consider both semelparous and iteroparous organisms,stable and varying environments, and describe how our methodscan be employed empirically.     

Timing of insemination in terms of age of new reproductive females of a temperate-zone polistine wasp,Polistes snelleni (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

Summary The present study investigated the age at which insemination takes place in Polistes snelleni, a species in which mating begins while new reproductives are still emerging from the nest. Insemination of new reproductive females began as early as 5 days of age, and most females were inseminated by 10 days of age.     

THE GENETICS OF AN ISOLATING MECHANISM BETWEEN TWO SIBLING SPECIES OF DROSOPHILA

Matings between Drosophila simulans females and males of the sibling species D. mauritiana are of abnormally short duration. These rapid matings interrupt the transfer of sperm, leading to substantial reproductive isolation in interspecific as compared to intraspecific copulations. Genetic analysis of this behavior shows that it is influenced much more by the male than the female genotype, with genes from D. simulans being dominant. In males, shortened copulation is caused by interspecific divergence at a minimum of three loci, with one gene on each of the major chromosomes. This is an underestimate of the true number of loci affecting the trait, which could be much larger. The two autosomes have the largest effect, whereas that of the X chromosome is much smaller. The genetic architecture of copulation duration and the larger effect of male than female genotype suggest that females can detect and discriminate against differences in male genitalia.     

FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE EFFORT DEPENDS ON THE DEGREE OF ORNAMENTATION OF THEIR MATES

Sexual selection theory assumes that secondary sexual characters do not influence female reproductive effort. Female animals may invest relatively more in reproduction if they acquire mates of high phenotypic quality, because offspring sired by preferred males may be relatively more viable than offspring sired by less preferred males. Here we report for the first time in a field study that females of the monogamous barn swallow Hirundo rustica adjust their reproductive effort to the attractiveness of their mates. Experimental manipulation of male tail length, which is a trait currently subject to a directional female mating preference, affected the reproductive effort by females in single broods as well as their decision on the seasonal number of clutches. These results, and those of previous experiments, demonstrate that female barn swallows assess the quality of their mates throughout the reproductive season and adjust their reproductive decisions accordingly. This result has important implications for the theory of sexual selection and for the possibility of testing current models of female mate preferences, because the viability of offspring will be confounded by differential reproductive effort.     

Variable generation times and Darwinian fitness measures

Summary Reproductive value (RV) and net reproductive output (R _o) are frequently used fitness measures. We argue that they are only appropriate when intervals between reproductive events are fixed, as they are dimensionless generation-to-generation scalings with units offspring per parent. A fitness measure should account for two different effects of a decrease in generation time: (1) increased survival due to shorter exposure to mortality agents and (2) increased frequency of reproduction.R _o andRV deal with the first of these two effects, while a measure with a physical dimensionper time [T^–1] is needed to account for the second. The Malthusian growth parameter,r, meets this requirement and in situations where time to reproduction is variable, we propose, the instantaneous rate of spread of descendants (from an individual) be used instead ofR _o. As an alternative toRV, we suggest using the instantaneous difference = –r, wherer is the population rate of increase. WhileRV andR _o are dimensionless ratios, , and areper time rates which are appropriate in accounting for alterations in generation time.