Assessing Condition-dependence of Male Flash Signals in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Photinus</Emphasis> Fireflies |
| |
Authors: | Evelyn K Sharkey Adam South Paul R Moosman Christopher K Cratsley Sara M Lewis |
| |
Institution: | (1) Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA;(2) Department of Biology, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, VA 24450, USA;(3) Department of Biology, Fitchburg State College, Fitchburg, MA 01420, USA; |
| |
Abstract: | Females often show a preference for exaggerated male sexual traits or courtship behaviors. Such preferences can benefit females
if trait expression is correlated with male genetic quality or phenotypic condition. Previous studies of several Photinus fireflies have revealed considerable intraspecific variation in the bioluminescent courtship signals emitted by males, and
have also demonstrated that females prefer more conspicuous male signals. Thus, females might gain information about male
phenotypic quality if courtship signals reflect male condition. We examined possible condition-dependence of Photinus male courtship signals using two complementary approaches. First we experimentally manipulated male mating status, which
is expected to affect male condition by depleting resources required for nuptial gift formation, and looked at how individual
male flash signals changed with mating status and over time. We used an additional approach to assess condition-dependence
by examining whether a relationship exists between flash signal parameters and measures of male condition and body shape.
We found that the pulse rate of P. greeni courtship signals was not altered by male mating status or age, and that the pulse duration of P. ignitus signals was also not affected by male mating status. In P. pyralis fireflies, males showed a non-significant trend toward reduced signal pulse duration with age. When we examined the relationship
between male flash signals and condition measures, we found no effect of male condition or body shape on courtship signals
in P. greeni or P. ignitus; in P. pyralis, males with wider body shapes produced longer duration flash signals. On the other hand, we found no evidence in P. pyralis that condition predicted flash duration. Taken together, these results indicate that Photinus males’ flash signals do not reflect adult male condition, and suggest that females are unlikely to use courtship signals
as an indicator of male phenotypic quality. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|