Behavioral Ecology Advance Access originally published online on July 7, 2004
Behavioral Ecology 2005 16(1):123-127; doi:10.1093/beheco/arh119
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mating rate and fitness in female bean weevils
a Department of Animal Ecology, Evolutionary Biology Center, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden, b Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden, and c Department of Biology, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, FIN-90014 Oulu, Finland
Address correspondence to G. Arnqvist. E-mail: goran.arnqvist{at}ebc.uu.se.
Females of most animal taxa mate with several males during their lifespan. Yet our understanding of the ultimate causes of polyandry is incomplete. For example, it is not clear if and in what sense female mating rates are optimal. Most female insects are thought to maximize their fitness by mating at an intermediate rate, but it has been suggested that two alternative fitness peaks may be observed if multiple costs and benefits interact in determining the relationship between mating rate and fitness. We studied the relationship between female fitness and mating rate in the bean weevil, Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae), a species in which several distinct direct effects of mating to females have been reported. Our results show that female fitness, measured as lifetime offspring production, is lowest at an intermediate mating rate. We suggest that this pattern is the result of multiple direct benefits to mating (e.g., sperm replenishment and hydration/nutrition effects) in combination with significant direct costs to mating (e.g., injury from male genitalia). Females mating at low rates may efficiently minimize the costs of mating, whereas females mating at high rates instead may maximize the benefits of mating. If common, the existence of bimodal relationships between female mating rate and fitness may help explain the large intra- and interspecific variation in the degree of polyandry often seen in insects.
Key words: Bruchidae, multiple mating, nuptial gifts, polyandry, sexual selection, sperm competition.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  T. Bilde, A. Foged, N. Schilling, and G. Arnqvist Postmating Sexual Selection Favors Males That Sire Offspring with Low Fitness Science, June 26, 2009; 324(5935): 1705 - 1706. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 N. Smolensky, M. R. Romero, and P. J. Krug Evidence for Costs of Mating and Self-Fertilization in a Simultaneous Hermaphrodite With Hypodermic Insemination, the Opisthobranch Alderia willowi Biol. Bull., April 1, 2009; 216(2): 188 - 199. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K. B. McNamara, R. L. Brown, M. A. Elgar, and T. M. Jones Paternity costs from polyandry compensated by increased fecundity in the hide beetle Behav. Ecol., March 1, 2008; 19(2): 433 - 440. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. A. Maklakov, N. Kremer, and G. Arnqvist The effects of age at mating on female life-history traits in a seed beetle Behav. Ecol., May 1, 2007; 18(3): 551 - 555. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Moya-Larano and C. W. Fox Ejaculate size, second male size, and moderate polyandry increase female fecundity in a seed beetle Behav. Ecol., November 1, 2006; 17(6): 940 - 946. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K. Vahed Larger ejaculate volumes are associated with a lower degree of polyandry across bushcricket taxa Proc R Soc B, September 22, 2006; 273(1599): 2387 - 2394. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. A Maklakov, N. Kremer, and G. Arnqvist Ageing and the evolution of female resistance to remating in seed beetles Biol Lett, March 22, 2006; 2(1): 62 - 64. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G.A Parker Sexual conflict over mating and fertilization: an overview Phil Trans R Soc B, February 28, 2006; 361(1466): 235 - 259. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. Edvardsson and T. Tregenza Why do male Callosobruchus maculatus harm their mates? Behav. Ecol., July 1, 2005; 16(4): 788 - 793. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|