Behavioral Ecology Advance Access originally published online on July 17, 2009
Behavioral Ecology 2009 20(5):1118-1124; doi:10.1093/beheco/arp105
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Male dominance influences pheromone expression, ejaculate quality, and fertilization success in the Australian field cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus
Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
Address correspondence to M.L. Thomas. E-mail: mlthomas{at}cyllene.uwa.edu.au.
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Abstract |
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The outcome of fights between males can often represent an honest signal of male quality and are therefore widely used by females in mate choice. Indeed, female preference for males that win fights has been demonstrated in numerous animal taxa, and many recent studies have focused attention on how subordinate males compensate for this disadvantage through postcopulatory mating strategies, such as increased investment in their ejaculates. Here, using the Australian field cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus, we show that rather than investing more in postcopulatory strategies, subordinate males invest in an alternative precopulatory mating approach. We find that subordinate males produce ejaculates of lower quality than dominate males and sire less offspring when competing for fertilizations. However, subordinate males upregulate the quantity of a number of cuticular compounds that have previously been shown to increase male mating success. Our results suggest that male reproductive success is likely to result from the interaction of multiple traits in this species.
Key words: cuticular hydrocarbons, paternity, social status, sperm quality, Teleogryllus oceanicus.
Received 25 March 2009; revised 18 June 2009; accepted 25 June 2009.