Communication of Direct Mating Benefits to Females

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Females often select mates based on variation in male mating signals because they directly benefit from mating with preferred males. For female choice based on signals of direct benefits to evolve, there must be mechanisms that constrain the production of deceptive signals by low quality males and mechanisms that constrain high quality males from cheating on the benefits promised by their signals. In the variable field cricket, Gryllus lineaticeps, males that produce higher chirp rates appear to transfer ejaculate products to females that positively affect female fecundity and fertility. Male signals thus provide information about the quality of a post-mating direct benefit. The investigator will examine two classes of factors that may affect the evolution of signals of benefit quality in G. lineaticeps. First, the researcher will examine whether male nutritional condition affects benefit quality, which is reflected in chirp rate. Second, three hypotheses about how female behavior sanctions males who provide lower quality mating benefits will be tested, including the effect of benefit quality on: (1) female termination of sperm transfer; (2) female re-mating with a male; and (3) the time taken by a female to mate with another male. If females express conditional mating tactics that sanction males who provide lower quality benefits, this will favor high quality males who provide the benefits indicated by their signals. Preliminary data suggest that benefit quality has a strong effect on female re-mating; females who receive higher quality benefits from a given male re-mate sooner with that male than do females who receive lower quality benefits. The proposed research is the first test of the factors that constrain deception by both low and high quality males. The proposed research will have an important impact on undergraduate research training. Forty-nine undergraduates have worked in the researcher's laboratory over the past eight years, twelve of whom were from minority groups. Five of these undergraduates are coauthors on published papers and four will be coauthors on manuscripts that will be submitted for publication. A minimum of two undergraduates per year will participate in the proposed research, and students from minority groups will continue to be recruited. The most promising undergraduates will attend and present their research, and meet potential graduate mentors.