Mate detection and seasonal variation in stick insect mating behaviour (Phamatodea: Clitarchus hookeri)
In: BehaviourbThe School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, 1142, New Zealand
cAllan Wilson Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
Search for other papers by Shelley S. Myers in
Current site
Google Scholar
bThe School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, 1142, New Zealand
cAllan Wilson Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
Search for other papers by Thomas R. Buckley in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Gregory I. Holwell in
Current site
Google Scholar
For animals that exhibit a scramble competition mating system, sexual selection pressures on mate searching ability are expected to be strong. Scramble competition mating systems evolve when populations provide females with equal accessibility to all male competitors, yet sex ratio and population density influences mating systems and varies seasonally. The stick insect species, Clitarchus hookeri, is frequently found in copula, yet very little is known about it’s mating behaviour. We preformed behavioural tests and assayed antennal sensory morphology to determine whether males used chemosensory cues to detect females. Through natural field observations we found populations to be significantly male-biased earlier in the season, while later, populations began to display equal sex ratios. With increasing female availability mating pair proportions steadily increased, while copulation duration declined. These results support C. hookeri as a scramble competitor, and demonstrate males may alter their behaviour in response to the seasonal variation in female density.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Able D.J. (1999). Scramble competition selects for greater tail fin size in male red-spotted newts (Amphibia: Salamandridae). — Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 46: 423-428.
-
Alcock J. (1994). Postinsemination associations between males and females in insects: the mate-guarding hypothesis. — Annu. Rev. Entomol. 39: 1-21.
-
Allen L.E., Barry K.L., Holwell G.I. (2012). Mate location and antennal morphology in the praying mantid Hierodula majuscula. — Aust. J. Entomol. 51: 133-140.
-
Allen L.E., Barry K.L., Holwell G.I., Herberstein M.E. (2011). Perceived risk of sperm competition affects juvenile development and ejaculate expenditure in male praying mantids. — Anim. Behav. 82: 1201-1206.
-
Alonso-Pimentel H., Papaj D.R. (1996). Operational sex ratio versus gender density as determinants of copulation duration in the walnut fly, Rhagoletis juglandis (Diptera: Tephritidae). — Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 39: 171-180.
-
Andersson M. (1994). Sexual selection. — Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
-
Barry K.L., Holwell G.I., Herberstein M.E. (2008). Female praying mantids use sexual cannibalism as a foraging strategy to increase fecundity. — Behav. Ecol. 19: 710-715.
-
Barry K.L., Holwell G.I., Herberstein M.E. (2010a). A paternity advantage for speedy males? Sperm precedence patterns and female re-mating frequencies in a sexually cannibalistic praying mantid. — J. Evol. Ecol. 25: 107-119.
-
Barry K.L., Holwell G.I., Herberstein M.E. (2010b). Multimodal mate assessment by male praying mantids in a sexually cannibalistic mating system. — Anim. Behav. 79: 1165-1172.
-
Berger-Tal R., Lubin Y. (2011). High male mate search costs and a female biased sex ratio shape the male mating strategy in a desert spider. — Anim. Behav. 82: 853-859.
-
Bonduriansky R. (2001). The evolution of male mate choice in insects: a synthesis of ideas and evidence. — Bio. Rev. 76: 305-339.
-
Bonduriansky R., Brooks R.J. (1998). Copulation and oviposition behaviour of Protopiophila litigata (Diptera: Piophilidae). — Can. Entomol. 130: 399-405.
-
Bradler S. (2009). Phylogeny of the stick and leaf insects (Insecta: Phasmatodea). — Spec. Phylogenet. Evol. 2: 3-139.
-
Buckley T.R., Attanayake D., Nylandar J.A.A., Bradler S. (2010a). The phylogenetic placement and biogeographical origins of the New Zealand stick insects (Phasmatodea). — Syst. Entomol. 35: 207-225.
-
Buckley T.R., Marske K., Attanayake D. (2010b). Phylogeography and ecological niche modelling of the New Zealand stick insect Clitarchus hookeri (White) support survival in multiple coastal refugia. — J. Biogeogr. 37: 682-695.
-
Buckley T.R., Myers S.S., Bradler S. (2014). Revision of the stick insect genus Clitarchus Stål (Phasmatodea: Phasmatidae): new synonymies and two new species from northern New Zealand. — Zootaxa 3900: 451-482.
-
Danielson-François A.A., Fetterer C.A., Smallwood P.D., Journal S. (2002). American arachnological society body condition and mate choice in Tetragnatha elongata (Araneae, Tetragnathidae). — J. Arachnol. 30: 20-30.
-
Delisle J., McNeil J.N. (1987). Calling behaviour and pheromone titre of the true armyworm Pseudaletia unipuncta (Haw.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) under different temperature and photoperiodic conditions. — J. Insect Physiol. 33: 315-324.
-
Dewsbury D.A. (1982). Ejaculate cost and male choice. — Am. Nat. 119: 601-610.
-
Emlen S.T., Oring L.W. (1997). Ecology, sexual selection, and the evolution of mating systems. — Science 197: 215-223.
-
Engqvist L., Reinhold K. (2005). Pitfalls in experiments testing predictions from sperm competition theory. — J. Evol. Biol. 18: 116-123.
-
Fly F., Tryoni D., Fletcher S. (1969). The structure and function of the sex pheromone glands of the male queensland fruit fly, Dacus tryoni. — J. Insect Behav. 15: 1309-1322.
-
Gunning G.E. (1987). Behavioral observations of the walking stick, Anisomorpha buprestoides (Phasmatodea: Phasmatidae). — Fla. Entomol. 70: 406-408.
-
Gwynne D.T. (1991). Sexual competition among females: what causes courtship-role reversal? — Trends Ecol. Evol. 6: 4-7.
-
Haw J.M., Clout M.N., Powlesland R.G. (2001). Diet of moreporks (Ninox novaeseelandiae) in Pureora Forest determined from prey remains in regurgitated pellets. — N.Z. J. Ecol. 25: 61-67.
-
Higgins P.J. (ed.) (1996). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds, Vol. 4. — Oxford University Press, Melbourne, VIC.
-
Hoefler C. (2007). Male mate choice and size-assortative pairing in a jumping spider, Phidippus clarus. — Anim. Behav. 73: 943-954.
-
Holwell G.I., Barry K.L., Herberstein M.E. (2007). Mate location, antennal morphology, and ecology in two praying mantids (Insecta: Mantodea). — Bio. J. Linn. Soc. 91: 307-313.
-
Kelly C.D. (2014a). Male-biased sex ratios and plasticity in post-insemination behaviour in the New Zealand stick insect Micrarchus hystriculeus. — Behaviour 152: 653-666.
-
Kelly C.D. (2014b). Sexual selection, phenotypic variation, and allometry in genitalic and non-genitalic traits in the sexually size-dimorphic stick insect Micrarchus hystriculeus. — Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 113: 471-484.
-
Kelly C.D., Bussière L.F., Gwynne D.T. (2008). Sexual selection for male mobility in a giant insect with female-biased size dimorphism. — Am. Nat. 172: 417-423.
-
Kelly C.D., Bussiere L.F., Gwynne D.T. (2010). Pairing and insemination patterns in a giant weta (Deinacrida rugosa: Orthoptera; Anostostomatidae). — J. Ethol. 28: 483-489.
-
Kokko H., Rankin D.J. (2006). Lonely hearts or sex in the city? Density-dependent effects in mating systems. — Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. B: Biol. Sci. 361: 319-334.
-
Kokko H., Wong B. (2007). What determines sex roles in mate searching? — Evolution 61: 1162-1175.
-
Liang D., Schal C. (1990). Circadian rhythmicity and development of the behavioural response to sex pheromone in male brown-banded cockroaches, Supella longipalpa. — Physiol. Entomol. 15: 355-361.
-
Linn C.E., Campbell M.G., Roelofs W.L. (1988). Temperature modulation of behavioural thresholds controlling male moth sex pheromone response specificity. — Physiol. Entomol. 13: 59-67.
-
Mathews L. (2002). Tests of the mate-guarding hypothesis for social monogamy: does population density, sex ratio, or female synchrony affect behavior of male snapping shrimp (Alpheus angulatus)? — Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 51: 426-432.
-
Morgan-Richards M., Trewick S.A., Stringer I.N. (2010). Geographic parthenogenesis and the common tea-tree stick insect of New Zealand. — Mol. Ecol. 19: 1227-1238.
-
Moya-Laraño J., Halaj J., Wise D.H. (2002). Climbing to reach females: Romeo should be small. — Evolution 56: 420-425.
-
Painting C.J., Holwell G.I. (2014a). Exaggerated rostra as weapons and the competitive assessment strategy of male giraffe weevils. — Behav. Ecol. 25: 1223-1232.
-
Painting C.J., Holwell G.I. (2014b). Observations on the ecology and behaviour of the New Zealand giraffe weevil (Lasiorhynchus barbicornis). — N.Z. J. Zool. 41: 147-153.
-
Parker G.A., Ball M.A., Stockley P., Gage M.J.G. (1996). Sperm competition games: individual assessment of sperm competition intensity by group spawners. — Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B: Biol. Sci. 263: 1291-1297.
-
Parker G.A., Ball M.A., Stockley P., Gage M.J.G. (1997). Sperm competition games: a prospective analysis of risk assessment. — Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B: Biol. Sci. 264: 1793-1802.
-
Pitafi K.D., Simpson R., Day T.H. (1995). Male mate choice for fecund females in seaweed flies. — Pakistan J. Zool. 27: 233-240.
-
R Core Development Team (2012). R: a language and environment for statistical computing. — The R Project for Statistical Computing, Vienna.
-
Reinhold K., Kurtz J., Engqvist L. (2002). Cryptic male choice: sperm allocation strategies when female quality varies. — J. Evol. Biol. 15: 201-209.
-
Rosén W. (2002). Endogenous control of circadian rhythms of pheromone production in the turnip moth, Agrotis segetum. — Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 50: 21-30.
-
Simmons L.W. (2001). Sperm competition and its evolutionary consequences in the insects. — Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
-
Sivinski J. (1979). Intrasexual aggression in the stick insects Diapheromera veliei and D. covilleae and sexual dimorphism in the Phasmatodea. — Psyche 85: 395-405.
-
Sivinski J. (1980). The effects of mating on predation in the stick insect Diapheromera veliei Walsh (Phasmatodea: Heteronemiidae). — Entomol. Soc. Am. 73: 553-556.
-
Sower L.L., Vick K.W., Ball K.A. (1974). Perception of olfactory stimuli that inhibit the responses of male phycitid moths to sex pheromones. — Environ. Entomol. 3: 227-279.
-
Stringer I. (1967). Aspects of reproduction and development in Clitarchus hookeri White. — The University of Auckland, Auckland.
-
Stringer I. (1970). The nymphal and imaginal stages of the bisexual stick insect Clitarchus hookeri (Phasmidae: Phasminae). — N.Z. Entomol. 4: 85-95.
-
Symonds M.R., Johnson T.L., Elgar M.A. (2012). Pheromone production, male abundance, body size, and the evolution of elaborate antennae in moths. — Ecol. Evol. 2: 227-246.
-
Takahashi Y., Watanabe M. (2011). Male mate choice based on ontogenetic colour changes of females in the damselfly Ischnura senegalensis. — J. Ethol. 29: 293-299.
-
Thornhill R., Alcock J. (1983). The evolution of insect mating systems. — Universe.com/Wiley, Lincoln, NE.
-
Vepsalainen K., Savolainen R. (1995). Operational sex ratios and mating conflict between the sexes in the water strider Gerris lacustris. — Am. Nat. 146: 869-880.
-
Wearing-Wilde J. (1996). Mate choice and competition in the barklouse Lepinotus patruelis (Psocoptera: Trogiidae): the effect of diet quality and sex ratio. — J. Insect Behav. 9: 599-612.
-
Wedell N., Gage M.J.G., Parker G.A. (2002). Sperm competition, male prudence and sperm-limited females. — Trends Ecol. Evol. 17: 313-320.
-
Weir L.K., Grant J.W., Hutchings J.A. (2011). The influence of operational sex ratio on the intensity of competition for mates. — Am. Nat. 177: 167-176.
-
Willig M.R., Garrison R.W., Bauman A.J. (1986). Population dynamics and natural history of a neotropical walking stick, Lamponius protoricensis rhen (Phasmatodea: Phasmatidae). — Texas J. Sci. 38: 121-137.
-
Zacharuk R.Y. (1985). Antennae and sensilla. — In: Comprehensive insect physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology, Vol. VI: nervous system: sensory ( Kerkut G.A., Gilbert L.I., eds). Pergamon Press, New York, NY, p. 1-69.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 1552 | 133 | 19 |
| Full Text Views | 396 | 10 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 271 | 27 | 0 |
Mate detection and seasonal variation in stick insect mating behaviour (Phamatodea: Clitarchus hookeri)
In: BehaviourbThe School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, 1142, New Zealand
cAllan Wilson Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
Search for other papers by Shelley S. Myers in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
bThe School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, 1142, New Zealand
cAllan Wilson Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
Search for other papers by Thomas R. Buckley in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Gregory I. Holwell in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
For animals that exhibit a scramble competition mating system, sexual selection pressures on mate searching ability are expected to be strong. Scramble competition mating systems evolve when populations provide females with equal accessibility to all male competitors, yet sex ratio and population density influences mating systems and varies seasonally. The stick insect species, Clitarchus hookeri, is frequently found in copula, yet very little is known about it’s mating behaviour. We preformed behavioural tests and assayed antennal sensory morphology to determine whether males used chemosensory cues to detect females. Through natural field observations we found populations to be significantly male-biased earlier in the season, while later, populations began to display equal sex ratios. With increasing female availability mating pair proportions steadily increased, while copulation duration declined. These results support C. hookeri as a scramble competitor, and demonstrate males may alter their behaviour in response to the seasonal variation in female density.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 1552 | 133 | 19 |
| Full Text Views | 396 | 10 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 271 | 27 | 0 |
