Skip Navigation



Behavioral Ecology Advance Access published online on November 3, 2006
Behavioral Ecology, doi:10.1093/beheco/arl072
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Lay Summary
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
18/1/189    most recent
arl072v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kasumovic, M. M.
Right arrow Articles by Andrade, M. C. B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Kasumovic, M. M.
Right arrow Articles by Andrade, M. C. B.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received March 29, 2006
Revised August 17, 2006
Accepted September 21, 2006

Article

Risky mate search and mate preference in the golden orb-web spider (Nephila plumipes)

Michael M. Kasumovic 1 *, Matthew J. Bruce 2, Marie E. Herberstein 2, and Maydianne C. B. Andrade 1

1 Integrative Behaviour and Neuroscience Group, University of Toronto at Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
2 Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, New South Wales 2109, Australia

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Michael M. Kasumovic, E-mail: m.kasumovic{at}utoronto.ca


  Abstract

Mate searching is a risky behavior that decreases survival by increasing predation risk and the risk of energy depletion. However, few studies have quantified actual mortality during mate search, making it difficult to predict mate searching and mating strategies. Using a mark and recapture study, we examined mate-searching success in a highly sexually dimorphic species, the golden orb-web spider (Nephila plumipes). We show that despite the high-density aggregations of this species, male survival during mate searching is extremely low (36%) and is phenotype independent. Surprisingly, males that survived mate search were in better condition after recapture than prior to release, most likely due to kleptoparasitism on females' webs. In a complementary release experiment in a field enclosure, we show that males are choosy and adjust their choice of female depending on their own condition and weight. Thus, the high mortality rate of searching males in the field may be a cost of choosiness because released males traveled further than necessary to settle on females. Although males were choosy about female phenotypes, they did not avoid webs with rival males already present. This suggests that the cost of continued searching outweighs the cost of competition but not the cost of mating with certain females. Further examinations of mate-searching risk in other species in reference to their mating system and environmental conditions are necessary to determine the occurrence and effects of high mortality rates during searching.

Keywords: mate choice; mate search; Nephila plumipes; searching mortality.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Biol LettHome page
M. M. Kasumovic, R. C. Brooks, and M. C. B. Andrade
Body condition but not dietary restriction prolongs lifespan in a semelparous capital breeder
Biol Lett, October 23, 2009; 5(5): 636 - 638.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
B. B. M. Wong and M. McCarthy
Prudent male mate choice under perceived sperm competition risk in the eastern mosquito fish
Behav. Ecol., March 1, 2009; 20(2): 278 - 282.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.