Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Potential Reproductive Advantage of Short-over Long-Winged Adult Males of the Cricket Velarifictorus ornatus

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Evolutionary Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A trade-off between flight capability and reproduction is well known in adult females of the wing-dimorphic cricket Velarifictorus ornatus, but it is not clear whether such a trade-off exists in adult males of the species. In the present study, we investigated sexual maturation time, mating frequency, and the fertilization success of spermatophores after sequential mating in long-winged (LW) and short-winged (SW) adult males of V. ornatus to evaluate the potential reproductive advantage of the SW over the LW male morph. We found that the SW males of V. ornatus attained sexual maturity earlier and produced heavier spermatophores during the early stage after adult emergence than their LW counterparts. Additionally, within a 24-h mating period, the SW males showed a higher mating frequency, greater spermatophore weight, and shorter intermating time interval compared with their LW counterparts. Although females copulated with the two male morphs produced eggs of similar size, fertilization success by SW males was significantly higher than by the LW males. These results provide support for a trade-off between dispersal capability and reproduction success in wing-dimorphic males of V. ornatus.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Biere, A. (1995). Genotypic and plastic variation in plant size-effects on fecundity and allocation patterns in Lychnis flos-cuculi along a gradient of natural soil fertility. Journal of Ecology, 83, 629–642.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burpee, D. M., & Sakaluk, S. (1993). Repeated matings offset costs of reproduction female crickets. Evolutionary Ecology, 7, 240–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crnokrak, P., & Roff, D. A. (1995). Fitness differences associated with calling behavior in the two morphs of male sand cricket, Gryllus firmus. Animal Behaviour, 50, 1475–1481.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daly, M. (1978). The cost of mating. American Naturalist, 112, 771–774.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dowling, D. K., & Simmons, L. W. (2012). Ejaculate economics: Testing the effects of male sexual history on the trade-off between sperm and immune function in Australian crickets. PLoS ONE, 7(1), e30172. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030172.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Eberhard, W. G. (1996). Female control: Sexual selection through cryptic female choice. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairbairn, D. J., & Preziosi, R. F. (1996). Sexual selection and the evolution of sexual size dimorphism in the water strider, Aquarius remigis. Evolution, 50, 1549–1559.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fujisaki, K. (1992). A male fitness advantage to wing reduction in the oriental chinch bug, Cavelerius saccharivorus Okajima (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae). Researches on Population Ecology, 34, 173–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerra, P. A. (2011). Evaluation the life-history trade-off between dispersal capability and reproduction in wing dimorphic insects: A meta-analysis. Biological Reviews, 86, 813–835.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Guerra, P. A., & Pollack, G. S. (2007). A life history trade-off between flight ability and reproductive behavior in male field crickets (Gryllus texensis). Journal of Insect Behavior, 20, 377–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerra, P. A., & Pollack, G. S. (2009). Flight behaviour attenuates the trade-off between flight capability and reproduction in a wing polymorphic cricket. Biology Letters, 5, 229–231.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Guerra, P. A., & Pollack, G. S. (2010). Colonists and desperadoes: Different fighting strategies in wing-dimorphic male Texas field crickets. Animal Behaviour, 79, 1087–1093.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holtmeier, C. L., & Zera, A. J. (1993). Differential mating success of male wing morphs of the cricket, Gryllus rubens. American Midland Naturalist, 129, 223–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumashiro, M., Tsuji, Y., & Sakai, M. (2003). Auto-spermatophore extrusion in males crickets. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 206, 4507–4519.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Langellotto, G. A. (2001). Benefits of dispersal in patchy environments: Mate location by males of a wing-dimorphic insect. Ecology, 82(7), 1870–1878.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langellotto, G. A., Denno, R. F., & Ott, J. R. (2000). A trade-off between flight capability and reproduction in males of a wing-dimorphic insect. Ecology, 81(3), 865–875.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lanman, J. T. (1968). Delays during reproduction and their effectss on the embryo and fetus. New England Journal of Medicine, 278, 993–999.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mishiro, K., Fujisaki, K., & Nakasuji, F. (1994). Comparison of female reproductive effort and male mating success between macropterous and brachypterous forms of the small brown planthopper, Laodelphax striatellus (Homoptera: Delphacidae). Applied Entomology and Zoology, 29, 211–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mowles, S. L. (2014). The physiological cost of courtship: field cricket song results in anaerobic metabolism. Animal Behaviour, 89, 39–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, G. A., & Pizzari, T. (2010). Sperm competition and ejaculate economics. Biological Reviews, 85, 897–934.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reinhardt, K., & Siva-Jothy, M. T. (2005). An advantage for young sperm in the house cricket Acheta domesticus. The American Naturalist, 165(6), 718–723.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roche, J. F., Dziuk, P. J., & Lodge, J. R. (1968). Competition between fresh and aged spermatozoa in fertilizing rabbit eggs. Journal of Reproduction and Fertility, 16, 155–157.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roff, D. A., & Fairbairn, D. J. (1994). The evolution of alternate morphologies: Fitness and wing morphology in male sand crickets. Evolution, 47, 1572–1584.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sack, C., & Stern, D. (2007). Sex and death in the male pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum: the life-history effects of a wing dimorphism. Journal of Insect Science, 7(45), 1–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sakaluk, S. K. (1997). Cryptic females choice predicated on wing dimorphism in decorated crickets. Behavioral Ecology, 8(3), 326–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlichting, C. D., & Pigliucci, M. (1998). Phenotypic evolution: A reaction norm perspective. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siva-Jothy, M. T. (2000). The young sperm gambit. Ecology Letters, 3, 172–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Socha, R. (2004). Decreased mating propensity of macropterous morph in a flightless wing-polymorphic insect, Pyrrhocoris apterus (Heteroptera). European Journal of Entomology, 101, 539–545.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Socha, R. (2008). Wing morph- and age-related differences in fertilization success of adult males of a flightless bug, Pyrrhocoris apterus (Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae). European Journal of Entomology, 105, 93–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Socha, R., & Hodková, M. (2006). Corpus allatum volume-dependent differences in accessory gland maturation in long- and short-winged males of Pyrrhocoris apterus (Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae). European Journal of Entomology, 103, 27–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stearns, S. C. (1976). Life-history tactics: A review of the ideas. Quarterly Review of Biology, 51, 3–47.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tanaka, S. (1993). Allocation of resources to egg production and flight muscle development in a wing dimorphic cricket, Modicogryllus confirmatus. Jounral of Insect Physiology, 39, 493–498.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tarín, J. J., Pérez-Albalé, S., & Cano, A. (2000). Consequences on offspring of abnormal function in ageing gametes. Human Reproduction Update, 6, 532–549.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Trivers, R. L. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selertion. In B. Campbell (Ed.), Sexual selection and the descent of man. Chicago, IL: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, W. E., Jr. (2005). Male field crickets that provide reproductive benefits to females incur higher costs. Ecological Entomology, 30, 350–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Q., & Davis, L. K. (2006). Females remate for sperm replenishment in a seed bug: Evidence from offspring viability. Journal of Insect Behavior, 19(3), 337–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeng, Y., & Zhu, D. H. (2012). Trade-off between flight capability and reproduction in male Velarifictorus asperses crickets. Ecological Entomology, 37, 244–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeng, Y., Zhu, D. H., & Zhao, L. Q. (2014). Critical flight time for switch from flight to reproduction in the wing dimorphic cricket Velarifictorus asperses. Evolutionary Biology, 41, 397–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zera, J. A., & Denno, R. F. (1997). Physiology and ecology of dispersal polymorphism in insects. Annual Review Entomology, 42, 207–230.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, L. Q., Zhu, D. H., He, Y. Y., & Yang, Y. P. (2008). Effects of changing photoperiod on nymphal development in a cricket (Velarifictorus ornatus). Acta Ecologica Sinica, 28, 253–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, L. Q., Zhu, D. H., & Zeng, Y. (2010). Physiological trade-offs between flight muscle and reproductive development in the wing-dimorphic cricket Velarifictorus ornatus. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 135, 288–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Nature Science Foundation of China (no. 31200494). We thank Z.W. Liu of Eastern Illinois University (USA) for linguistic revision.

Author information

Author notes

    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Laboratory of Insect Behavior and Evolutionary Ecology, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, China

      Lv-Quan Zhao, Huai-lin Chai & Dao-Hong Zhu

    2. Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China

      Lv-Quan Zhao

    Authors
    1. Lv-Quan Zhao
      View author publications

      You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

    2. Huai-lin Chai
      View author publications

      You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

    3. Dao-Hong Zhu
      View author publications

      You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

    Corresponding author

    Correspondence to Dao-Hong Zhu.

    Ethics declarations

    Conflict of interest

    The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

    Additional information

    Lv-Quan Zhao and Huai-lin Chai contributed equally to this work.

    Rights and permissions

    Reprints and permissions

    About this article

    Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

    Cite this article

    Zhao, LQ., Chai, Hl. & Zhu, DH. Potential Reproductive Advantage of Short-over Long-Winged Adult Males of the Cricket Velarifictorus ornatus . Evol Biol 44, 91–99 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-016-9395-2

    Download citation

    • Received:

    • Accepted:

    • Published:

    • Issue Date:

    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-016-9395-2

    Keywords

    Search

    Navigation