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Non-independent mate choice in a fiddler crab: a case of stimulus enhancement

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Abstract

Non-independent mate selection occurs when the choice behavior of a female is altered by the interactions between other females and males. In the fiddler crab Uca mjoebergi, males court mate-searching females by waving their one greatly enlarged claw. When a female approaches a male, he initiates high-intensity waving. We conducted one natural mate choice experiment and two mate choice experiments using custom-built robotic crabs. We show that the decision of one female to approach a group of males increases the probability that another female will approach and visit a male from the same group. We suggest that this behavior is best explained by the ‘stimulus enhancement’ hypothesis, where the presence of a female near a group of males makes them more likely to be detected by other females due to an increase in male display rate.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Isobel Booksmythe and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on the manuscript. Research was funded by the Animal Behavior Society (to R.N.C.M.), an Australian Postgraduate Award (to R.N.C.M.) and the Australian Research Council (to P.R.Y.B. and M.D.J.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia

    Richard N. C. Milner, Michael D. Jennions & Patricia R. Y. Backwell

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  1. Richard N. C. Milner
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  2. Michael D. Jennions
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  3. Patricia R. Y. Backwell
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Correspondence to Richard N. C. Milner.

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Communicated by C. Gabor

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Milner, R.N.C., Jennions, M.D. & Backwell, P.R.Y. Non-independent mate choice in a fiddler crab: a case of stimulus enhancement. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 65, 1419–1424 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-011-1152-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-011-1152-z

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