Cicadas usually sing and mate in the higher parts of trees.Studies addressing the effects of different acoustic signals on mate choice in Cicadidae are very limited.We investigated the effects of both acoustical featu...Cicadas usually sing and mate in the higher parts of trees.Studies addressing the effects of different acoustic signals on mate choice in Cicadidae are very limited.We investigated the effects of both acoustical features and morphological traits on mate choice in an East Asian cicada Platypleura kaempferi.Males produce high-rate calling songs that attract females,then produce low-rate courtship songs to secure mating when a female is attracted.Higher calling song rate(CR),shorter single-pulse duration,and shorter pulse period of the calling song,together with lower courtship song rate and longer echeme period of the courtship song,are the most desirable traits used by females to choose a mate.These traits indicate that the more amale can raise the rate of song production,the higher the probability he is sexually selected by the female.No correlation was found between morphological traits and mating success.After mating,a minority of males started emitting calling songs again,but the CR was significantly lower than before mating and none of them attracted a new mate later.This promotes females mating with unmated males.We hypothesize that P.kaempferi may have the best of both worlds due to the unique song modulation and the mechanism of female mate choice:males change energetically,costly acoustic signals to achieve mates,while females choose a mate based on males’acoustic properties.Our results contribute to better understanding the diversity of mating preference and enrich the mechanism of mate choice in acoustic insects.展开更多
Male-specific wing spots are usually associated with wing displays in the courtship behavior of Drosophila and may play important roles in sexual selection.Two closely related species,D.nepalensis and D.trilutea,diffe...Male-specific wing spots are usually associated with wing displays in the courtship behavior of Drosophila and may play important roles in sexual selection.Two closely related species,D.nepalensis and D.trilutea,differ in wing spots and scissoring behavior.Here,we compare male morphological characters,pigmentation intensity of male wing spots,wing-scissoring behavior,courtship songs,and reproductive isolation between 2 species.F1 fertile females and sterile males result from the cross between females of D.nepalensis and males of D.trilutea.The pigmentation of wing spots is significantly weaker in D.trilutea than in D.nepalensis and the F1 hybrid.Males scissor both wings in front of the female during courtship,with a posture spreading wings more widely,and at a faster frequency in D.nepalensis than in D.trilutea and the F1s.Males of D.trilutea vibrate wings to produce 2 types(A and B)of pulse songs,whereas D.nepalensis and the F1s sing only type B songs.The incidence of wing vibration and scissoring during courtship suggests that wing vibration is essential but scissoring is a facultative courtship element for successful mating in both species.The association between the darker wing spots with more elaborate scissoring might be the consequence of correlated evolution of these traits in D.nepalensis;however,D.trilutea retains wing scissoring during courtship despite having weaker pigmentation of wing spots.The genetic architecture of 2 traits differs in the F1s,consistent with maternal or sex-linked effects for spots but nonadditive effects for scissoring.展开更多
基金This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant numbers 31772505 and 32070476).
文摘Cicadas usually sing and mate in the higher parts of trees.Studies addressing the effects of different acoustic signals on mate choice in Cicadidae are very limited.We investigated the effects of both acoustical features and morphological traits on mate choice in an East Asian cicada Platypleura kaempferi.Males produce high-rate calling songs that attract females,then produce low-rate courtship songs to secure mating when a female is attracted.Higher calling song rate(CR),shorter single-pulse duration,and shorter pulse period of the calling song,together with lower courtship song rate and longer echeme period of the courtship song,are the most desirable traits used by females to choose a mate.These traits indicate that the more amale can raise the rate of song production,the higher the probability he is sexually selected by the female.No correlation was found between morphological traits and mating success.After mating,a minority of males started emitting calling songs again,but the CR was significantly lower than before mating and none of them attracted a new mate later.This promotes females mating with unmated males.We hypothesize that P.kaempferi may have the best of both worlds due to the unique song modulation and the mechanism of female mate choice:males change energetically,costly acoustic signals to achieve mates,while females choose a mate based on males’acoustic properties.Our results contribute to better understanding the diversity of mating preference and enrich the mechanism of mate choice in acoustic insects.
基金funded by the National Scientifie Foundation of China(31372187)funded by the NERC,UK(grants NE/E015255/1 and NE/020818/1).
文摘Male-specific wing spots are usually associated with wing displays in the courtship behavior of Drosophila and may play important roles in sexual selection.Two closely related species,D.nepalensis and D.trilutea,differ in wing spots and scissoring behavior.Here,we compare male morphological characters,pigmentation intensity of male wing spots,wing-scissoring behavior,courtship songs,and reproductive isolation between 2 species.F1 fertile females and sterile males result from the cross between females of D.nepalensis and males of D.trilutea.The pigmentation of wing spots is significantly weaker in D.trilutea than in D.nepalensis and the F1 hybrid.Males scissor both wings in front of the female during courtship,with a posture spreading wings more widely,and at a faster frequency in D.nepalensis than in D.trilutea and the F1s.Males of D.trilutea vibrate wings to produce 2 types(A and B)of pulse songs,whereas D.nepalensis and the F1s sing only type B songs.The incidence of wing vibration and scissoring during courtship suggests that wing vibration is essential but scissoring is a facultative courtship element for successful mating in both species.The association between the darker wing spots with more elaborate scissoring might be the consequence of correlated evolution of these traits in D.nepalensis;however,D.trilutea retains wing scissoring during courtship despite having weaker pigmentation of wing spots.The genetic architecture of 2 traits differs in the F1s,consistent with maternal or sex-linked effects for spots but nonadditive effects for scissoring.
