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The genetic polymorphism linked to mate-securing strategies in the male damselfly Mnais costalis Selys (Odonata: Calopterygidae)

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Population Ecology

Abstract

Alternative male mate-securing strategies are widespread among animal taxa, but there are few well-documented examples of genetic polymorphisms for them. In the Japanese calopterygid damselfly Mnais costalis, males occur as either orange-winged territorial fighter males, or clear-winged non-territorial sneaker males. It has previously been suggested that this behavioral polymorphism is genetically controlled. However, there was no direct evidence for this. By rearing two groups of larvae from the same female but sired by different male morphs, I show that differential morph development is genetically controlled and consistent with a single-locus two-allele autosomal genetic polymorphism.

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to M.T. Siva-Jothy, S.J. Plaistow, R.E. Hooper and H. Tatsuta for discussions during the course of this study. I also thank two anonymous reviewers for comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. S. Kohara, N. Ohyama and K. Imaizumi helped me maintain the damselfly larvae rearing system. I received a grants-in-aid from the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (No. 13480181).

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  1. Biodiversity Conservation Research Group, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 305-8253, Tsukuba, Japan

    Yoshitaka Tsubaki

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  1. Yoshitaka Tsubaki
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Correspondence to Yoshitaka Tsubaki.

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Tsubaki, Y. The genetic polymorphism linked to mate-securing strategies in the male damselfly Mnais costalis Selys (Odonata: Calopterygidae). Popul Ecol 45, 263–266 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-003-0162-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-003-0162-8

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