Skip to main content

Evolution of male dimorphic allometry in a population of the Japanese horned beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus septentrionalis

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology volume 62, pages 245–253 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

I conducted a detailed morphological analysis of the Japanese horned beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus septentrionalis to clarify the allometric relationship between horn length and body size and examined its mating success and reproductive behaviour in the field. The relationship between horn and body size was not discontinuous at the switch point body size, but the slope of the linear relationship changed at the switch point. Shape of the allometric relationship was initially steep and became flatten around the switch point in both linear and log scales; that is, minor males showed a positive relationship and major males showed a negative one. Major males gained more mating success than minor males. Within major males, individuals with larger horn or body size had higher mating success than individuals with smaller ones. Within minor males there were no differences in horn and body size between mated and unmated individuals. Although sneak-like behaviours were exhibited by both morphs, it is likely that these behaviours rarely lead to direct benefit. These results suggest that dimorphic allometry of T. dichotomus is consistent with the hypothesis of a continuous reaction norm that meets a ceiling, which restrains further allometric growth.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

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

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

References

  • Andersson M (1994) Sexual Selection. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonduriansky R, Day T (2003) The evolution of static allometry in sexually selected traits. Evolution 57:2450–2458

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burkhardt D, Motte I (1988) Big ‘antlers’ are favoured: female choice in stalk-eyed flies (Diptera, Insecta), field collected harems and laboratory experiments. J Comp Physiol A 162:649–652

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark JT (1977) Aspects of variation in the stag beetle Lucanus cervus (L.) (Coleoptera: Lucanidae). Syst Entomol 2:9–16

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eberhard WG (1979) In: Blum MS, Blum NA (eds) The function of horns in Podischnus agenor and other beetles. Sexual selection and reproductive competition in insects. Academic, New York, pp 231–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Eberhard WG (1980) Horned beetles. Sci Am 242:124–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eberhard WG (1982) Beetle horn dimorphism: making the best of bat lot. Am Nat 119:420–426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eberhard WG (1998) Sexual behavior of Acanthocephala declivis guatemalana (Hemiptera: Coreidae) and the allometric scaling of their modified hind legs. Ann Entomol Soc Am 91:863–871

    Google Scholar 

  • Eberhard WG, Gutierrez EE (1991) Male dimorphisms in beetles and earwigs and the question of developmental constraints. Evolution 45:18–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emlen DJ (1996) Artificial selection on horn length-body size allometry in the horned beetle Onthophagus acuminatus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Evolution 50:1219–1230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emlen DJ (1997a) Alternative reproductive tactics and male dimorphism in the horned beetle Onthophagus acuminatus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 41:335–341

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emlen DJ (1997b) Diet alters male horn allometry in the beetle Onthophagus acuminatus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Proc R Soc Lond B 264:567–574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emlen DJ (2000) Integrating development with evolution: a case study with beetle horns. Bioscience 50:403–418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emlen DJ (2001) Costs and diversification of exaggerated animal structures. Science 291:1534–1536

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Emlen DJ, Nijhout HF (1999) Hormonal control of male horn length dimorphism in the dung beetle Onthophagus taurus (Coleopera: Scarabaeidae). J Insect Physiol 45:45–53

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Emlen DJ, Nijhout HF (2001) Hormonal control of male horn length dimophism in the dung beetle Onthophagus taurus (Coleopera: Scarabaeidae): a second critical period of sensitivity to juvenile hormone. J Insect Physiol 47:1045–1054

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Forslund P (2003) An experimental investigation into status-dependent male dimorphism in the European earwig, Forficula auricularia. Anim Behav 65:309–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldsmith SK (1987) The mating system and alternative reproductive behaviours of Dendrobias mandibularis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 20:111–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross MR (1996) Alternative reproductive strategies and tactics: diversity within sexes. Trends Ecol Evol 11:92–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanley RS (2001) Mandibular allometry and male dimorphism in a group of obligately mycophagous beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Oxyporinae). Biol J Linn Soc 72:451–459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hongo Y (2003) Appraising behaviour during male-male interaction in the Japanese horned beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus septentrionalis (Kono). Behaviour 140:501–517

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt J, Simmons LW (2001) Status-dependent selection in the dimorphic beetle Onthophagus taurus. Pro R Soc Lond B 268:2409–2414

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huxley JS (1931) Relative growth of mandibles in stag beetles. J Linn Soc Lond 37:675–703

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kawano K (1995) Horn and wing allometry and male dimorphism in giant rhinoceros beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of tropical Asia and America. Ann Entomol Soc Am 88:92–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Kawano K (1997) Cost of evolving exaggerated mandibles in stag beetles (Coleoptera: Lucanidae). Ann Entomol Soc Am 90:453–461

    Google Scholar 

  • Knell RJ, Pomfret JC, Tomkins JL (2004) The limits of elaboration: curved allometries reveal the constraints on mandible size in stag beetle. Proc R Soc Lond B 271:523–528

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotiaho JS, Tomkins JL (2001) The discrimination of alternative male morphologies. Behav Ecol 12:553–557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Madewell R, Moczek AP (2006) Horn possession reduces maneuverability in the horn-polyphenic beetle, Onthophagus nigriventris. J Insect Sci 6:21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McAlpine DK (1979) In: Blum MS, Blum NA (eds) Agonistic behavior in Achias australis (Diptera: Platystomatidae) and the significance of eyestalks. Sexual selection and reproductive competition in insects. Academic, New York, pp 221–230

    Google Scholar 

  • Miyatake T (1993) Male-male aggressive behavior is changed by body size difference in the leaf-footed plant bug, Leptoglossus australis, Fabricius (Heteroptera: Coreidae). J Ethol 11:63–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miyatake T (1997) Functional morphology of the hind legs as weapons for male contests in Leptoglossus australis (Heteroptera: Coreidae). J Insect Behav 10:727–735

    Google Scholar 

  • Moczek AP (2003) The behavioral ecology of threshold evolution in a polyphenic beetle. Behav Ecol 14:841–854

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moczek AP, Emlen DJ (1999) Proximate determination of male horn dimorphism in the beetle Onthophagus taurus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). J Evol Biol 12:27–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moczek AP, Emlen DJ (2000) Male horn dimorphism in the scarab beetle, Onthophagus taurus: do alternative reproductive tactics favour alternative phenotypes. Anim Behav 59:459–466

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moczek AP, Nijhout HF (2002) Developmental mechanisms of threshold evolution in a polyphenic beetle. Evol Devel 4:252–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nijhout HF, Emlen DJ (1998) Competition among body parts in the development and evolution of insect morphology. Proc Natl Acad Sci of U S A 95:3685–3689

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nijhout HF, Wheeler DE (1996) Growth models of complex allometries in holometabolous insects. Am Nat 148:40–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Otte D, Stayman J (1979) In: Blum MS, Blum NA (eds) Beetle horns: some patterns in functional morphology. Sexual selection and reproductive competition in insects. Academic, New York, pp 259–292

    Google Scholar 

  • Panhuis TM, Wilkinson GS (1999) Exaggerated male eye span influences contest outcome in stalk-eyed flies (Dipsidae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 46:221–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plaistow SJ, Tsuchida K, Tsubaki Y, Setsuda K (2005) The effect of a seasonal time constraint on development time, body size, condition, and morph determination in the horned beetle Allomyrina dichotoma L. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Ecol Entmol 30:692–699

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen JL (1994) The influence of horn and body size on the reproductive behavior of the horned rainbow scarab beetle Phanaeus difformis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). J Insect Behav 7:67–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowland JM (2003) Male horn dimorphism, phylogeny and systematics of rhinoceros beetles of the genus Xylotrupes (Scarabaeidae: Coleoptera). Aust J Zool 51:213–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Setsuda K, Tsuchida K, Watanabe H, Kaei Y, Yamada Y (1999) Size dependent predatory pressure in the Japanese horned beetle, Allomyrina dichotoma L. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeida). J Ethol 17:73–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Shiokawa T, Iwahashi O (2000) Mandible dimorphism in male of a stag beetle, Prosopocoilus dissimilis okinawanus (Coleoptera: Lucanidae). Appl Entomol Zool 35:487–494

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siva-Jothy MT (1987) Mate securing tactics and the cost of fighting in the Japanese horned beetle Allomyrina dichotoma L. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). J Ethol 5:165–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thornhill R, Alcock J (1983) The evolution of insect mating systems. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomkins JL, Kotiaho JS, LeBas NR (2005) Matters of scale: positive allometry and the evolution of male dimorphisms. Am Nat 165:389–402

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tomkins JL, Kotiaho JS, LeBas NR (2006) Major differences in minor allometries: a reply to Moczek. Am Nat 167:612–618

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West-Eberhard MJ (1989) Phenotypic plasticity and the origins of diversity. Ann Rev Ecol System 20:249–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson GS, Dodson GN (1997) Function and evolution of antelers and eye stalks in flies. In: Choe J, Crespi B (eds) Mating systems in insects and arachnids. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 310–328

Download references

Acknowledgements

I thank Drs. Michio Imafuku and Ken Yoda for their valuable advices on the manuscript. Especially, I thank Drs. Akira Mori, Douglas Emlen and Joseph Tomkins for their extremely helpful comments for improving the manuscript. I am also grateful to Dr. Simon Cook for his English corrections and Noriyoshi Sato for his assistance of field research. Field observations were conducted under the permission of Kamigamo Experimental Station of Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto University. This study was supported in part by a Grant for the Biodiversity Research of the 21st Century COE (A14).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Yoshihito Hongo

Authors
  1. Yoshihito Hongo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yoshihito Hongo.

Additional information

Communicated by M. Siva-Jothy

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hongo, Y. Evolution of male dimorphic allometry in a population of the Japanese horned beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus septentrionalis . Behav Ecol Sociobiol 62, 245–253 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-007-0459-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-007-0459-2

Keywords

  • Male dimorphism
  • Alternative reproductive behaviour
  • Allometry
  • Horned beetles