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Damselfly females prefer hot males: higher courtship success in males in sunspots

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Abstract

Males of some territorial calopterygid damselflies show an elaborate courtship display that involves high-frequency wing-beats directed toward an incoming female. Although it has been suggested that female mate preference is based on some characteristics of male’s courtship display, it is unclear whether the courtship display varies between males or is influenced by environmental conditions. We combined two recent technologies, thermographic imaging and high-speed digital videography, to show that the wing-beat frequency during courtship (i.e., courtship intensity) in a damselfly, Mnais costalis, is correlated with thorax temperature. Our data indicated that (1) male thorax temperature was associated with solar exposure in his territory, (2) environmentally derived thermal gain enhanced courtship intensity, (3) hotter males were more likely to copulate than others, and (4) female thorax temperature during oviposition within a territory was associated with solar exposure. Males with territories that have longer exposure to sun spots are expected to attain higher thorax temperatures for longer and so are able to successfully court more females. We suggest that females benefit from mating with hot males because they will be on a warmer territory while ovipositing. Hot males might also have greater mate guarding ability, and/or eggs may develop faster in warmer territories.

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Acknowledgments

YT received a grant-in-aid from the Japan Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (No. 19201047). We thank JSPS for a grant that made it possible MS-J to visit Japan. Jens Rolff and Klaus Reinhardt, and three anonymous reviewers made comments that improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Hirano 2-509-3, Otsu, 520-2113, Japan

    Yoshitaka Tsubaki & Yuka Samejima

  2. Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK

    Michael T. Siva-Jothy

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  1. Yoshitaka Tsubaki
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  2. Yuka Samejima
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  3. Michael T. Siva-Jothy
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Correspondence to Yoshitaka Tsubaki.

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Communicated by L. Simmons

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Tsubaki, Y., Samejima, Y. & Siva-Jothy, M.T. Damselfly females prefer hot males: higher courtship success in males in sunspots. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 64, 1547–1554 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-0968-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-0968-2

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