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Age-related changes in an insect mating signal have no effect on female choice

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Abstract

The structure of male mating signals is often influenced by age. The causes and consequences of age-based signal variation have been much studied in visual, acoustic, and chemical signaling modalities, but are less explored in species that use vibrational signals for mate attraction. However, the complex structure of many vibrational signals makes them ideal for investigating the relationships between age, signal variation, and patterns of female choice. In the thornbug treehopper, Umbonia crassicornis, females mate more often with older males, but the mechanism underlying older male mating success is unknown. Our goals in this study were to determine whether male vibrational mate advertisement signals vary with age, and, if so, whether females prefer the signals of older males. We recorded male signals over four consecutive weeks beginning at the onset of signaling (a period spanning most of the male reproductive lifespan), and measured ten temporal, spectral, and energy-related parameters from each signal. Several features of male signals changed markedly with age. However, females responded similarly to signals representing males of different ages, indicating that they do not favor older males on the basis of long distance mate advertisement signals. Nonetheless, the results reveal that even in short-lived, determinate growth species age can have surprisingly large effects on mating signals, and we discuss some factors that may contribute to age-related signal variability in U. crassicornis.

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Acknowledgments

We thank B. Sonderman for help in maintaining the greenhouse colony of U. crassicornis. We are very grateful to R. Mundry for providing the “permuted DFA” program and helping with the interpretation of its results. We also thank G. McNett, R. Rodríguez, J. Schul, H.C. Gerhardt, R. Semlitsch, M. Flinn, and three anonymous reviewers for their comments on this manuscript. This research was supported by an NSERC (Canada) postgraduate scholarship to PAD. The experiments performed here comply with the current laws of the USA.

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  1. Paul A. De Luca

    Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON, Canada, M1C 1A4

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    Reginald B. Cocroft

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De Luca, P.A., Cocroft, R.B. Age-related changes in an insect mating signal have no effect on female choice. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 63, 1787–1798 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-009-0803-9

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