Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Communication pp 145–177Cite as

Sexual Selection and the Evolution of Advertisement Signals

  • Chapter

Part of the book series: Perspectives in Ethology ((PEIE,volume 12))

Abstract

Evolution of the advertisement signals of male animals may be influenced by various sexual selection forces. Female choice mechanisms, male-male competition, and mate recognition may all initiate and maintain the signaling systems involved in sexual advertisement. The initiation of signaling systems may also be constrained phylogenetically; in particular, ancestral biases in perception may serve as preadaptations that select for specific signaling properties.

Whereas the various factors that purportedly influence signaling system evolution can be framed as operationally distinct hypotheses, testing and distinguishing these hypotheses empirically has proven difficult. Thus, it would not be prudent to propose at this time that any one factor has contributed more than another to signaling system evolution among animals. Signaling systems characterized by long-range acoustic or photic advertisements offer some advantages for empirical study. Advances in digital technology allow these signals to be characterized, simulated, modified, and played back. Moreover, by testing the responses of receivers toward simulated signals, the influences of male-male competition and female choice may be separated. Nonetheless, a survey of several acoustic and photic signaling systems in insects demonstrates that any attempt to unravel the many interdependent factors potentially influencing signaling system evolution must incorporate intensive genetic, environmental (field), and phylogenetic study in addition to basic behavioral assays.

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

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Alexander, R. D. (1975). Natural selection and specialized chorusing behavior in acoustical insects. In D. Pimentel (ed.), Insects, Science, and Society (pp. 35–77). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andersson, M. (1986). Evolution of condition-dependent sexual ornaments and mating preferences: Sexual selection based on viability differences. Evolution, 40, 804–816.

    Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  • Arak, A. (1988). Callers and satellites in the natterjack toad: Evolutionarily stable decision rules. Animal Behaviour, 36, 416–432.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arak, A., T. Eiriksson, and T. Radesäter. (1990). The adaptive significance of acoustic spacing in male bushcrickets Tettigonia viridissima: Aperturbation experiment. Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology, 26, 1–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, W. J. (1991). Acoustic Behaviour of Arthropods. London, England: Chapman & Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Basolo, A. (1990). Female preference predates the evolution of the sword in swordtails. Science, 250, 808–810.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Borgia, G. and K. Collis. (1989). Parasites and bright male plumage in the satin bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus). American Zoologist, 30, 279–285.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradbury, J. W. (1981). The evolution of leks. In R. D. Alexander and D. W. Tinkle (eds.), Natural Selection and Social Behavior: Recent Research and New Theory (pp. 138–169). New York: Chiron Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradbury, J. W. and R. M. Gibson. (1983). Leks and mate choice. In P. Bateson (ed.), Mate Choice (pp. 109–138). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Branham, M. A. and M. D. Greenfield. (1996). Flashing males win mate success. Nature, 381, 745–746.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Buck, J. (1988). Synchronous rhythmic flashing in fireflies. II. Quarterly Review of Biology, 63, 265–289.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Case, J. F. (1984). Vision in mating behaviour of fireflies. In T. Lewis (ed.), Insect Communication (pp. 195–222). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charlesworth, B. (1987). The heritability of fitness. In J. W. Bradbury and M. Andersson (eds.), Sexual Selection: Testing the Alternatives (pp. 21–40). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christy, J. H. (1995). Mimicry, mate choice, and the sensory trap hypothesis. American Naturalist, 146, 171–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cremer, S. and M. D. Greenfield. (1997). Partitioning the components of sexual selection: Attractiveness and competitive behavior in male wax moths. Ethology 103, in press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darwin, C. (1871). The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex. London, England: John Murray.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doherty, J. A. (1985). Phonotaxis in the cricket, Gryllus bimaculatus DeGeer: Comparisons of choice and no-choice paradigms. Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 157, 279–289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dominey, W. (1983). Sexual selection, additive genetic variance and the “phenotypic handicap.” Journal of Theoretical Biology., 101, 495–502.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dumont, J. P. C. and R. M. Robertson. (1986). Neuronal circuits: An evolutionary perspective. Science, 233, 849–853.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Enquist, M. and A. Arak. (1993). Symmetry, beauty and evolution. Nature, 372, 169–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, R. A. (1915). The evolution of sexual preference. Eugenics Review, 7, 184–192.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, R. A. (1958). The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection (2nd ed.) New York: Dover.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galliart, P. L. and K. C. Shaw. (1991). Effect of intermale distance and female presence on the nature of chorusing by paired Amblycorypha parvipennis (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) males. Florida Entomologist, 74, 559–568.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerhardt, H. C. (1991). Female mate choice in treefrogs: Static and dynamic criteria. Animal Behaviour, 42, 615–635.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerhardt, H. C. (1994a). Reproductive character displacement on female mate choice in the grey treefrog Hyla chrysoscelis. Animal Behaviour, 47, 959–969.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerhardt, H. C. (1994b). The evolution of vocalization in frogs and toads. Annual Review of Ecology & Systematics, 25, 293–324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilburn, A. S. and T. H. Day. (1994). Evolution of female choice in seaweed flies: Fisherian and good genes mechanisms operate in different populations. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 255, 159–165.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilburn, A. S., S. P. Foster, and T. H. Day. (1993). Genetic correlation between a female mating preference and the male preferred character in the seaweed fly, Coelopa frigida. Evolution, 47, 1788–1795.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grafen, A. (1990a). Sexual selection unhandicapped by the Fisher process. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 144, 473–516.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grafen, A. (1990b). Biological signals as handicaps. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 144, 517–546.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, M. D. (1981). Moth sex pheromones: An evolutionary perspective. Florida Entomologist, 64, 4–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, M. D. (1988). Inter-specific acoustic interactions among katydids Neoconocephalus: Inhibition-induced shifts in diel periodicity. Animal Behaviour, 36, 684–695.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, M. D. (1990). Territory-based mating systems in desert grasshoppers: Effects of host plant distribution and variation. In R. F. Chapman and A. Joern (eds.), Biology of Grasshoppers (pp. 315–335). New York: Wiley-Interscience.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, M. D. (1994a). Cooperation and conflict in the evolution of signal interactions. Annual Review of Ecology & Systematics, 25, 97–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, M. D. (1994b). Synchronous and alternating choruses in insects and anurans: Common mechanisms and diverse functions. American Zoologist, 34, 605–615.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, M. D. (1997). Sexual selection in resource defense polygyny: Lessons from territorial grasshoppers. In J. C. Choe and B. Crespi (eds.), The Evolution of Mating Systems in Insects and Arachnids (pp. 75–88). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, M. D., Alkaslassy, E., Wang, G.-y. and Shelly, T. E. (1989). Long-term memory in territorial grasshoppers. Experientia, 45, 775–777.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, M. D. and Coffelt, J. A. (1983). Reproductive behaviour of the lesser waxmoth, Achroia grisella (Pyralidae: Galleriinae): Signalling, pair formation, male interactions, and mate guarding. Behaviour, 84, 287–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, M. D. and Minckley, R. L. (1993). Acoustic dueling in tarbush grasshoppers: Settlement of territorial contests via alternation of reliable signals. Ethology, 95, 309–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, M. D. and Roizen, I. (1993). Katydid synchronous chorusing is an evolutionarily stable outcome of female choice. Nature, 364, 618–620.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, M. D., Tourtellot, M. K. and Snedden, W. A. (1997). Precedence effects and the evolution of chorusing. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. 264, in press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gwynne, D. T. and Morris, G. K. (1986). Heterospecific recognition and behavioral isolation in acoustic Orthoptera (Insecta). Evolutionary Theory, 8, 33–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, W. D. and Zuk, M. (1982). Heritable true fitness and bright birds: A role for parasites. Science, 218, 384–387.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, P. H. and Bradbury, J. W. (1991). Sexual selection: In J. R. Krebs and N. B. Davies (eds.), Behavioural Ecology: An Evolutionary Approach (3rd ed., pp. 203–233). Oxford: Blackwell Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedrick, A. V. and Dill, L. M. (1993). Mate choice by female crickets is influenced by predation risk. Animal Behaviour, 46, 193–196.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedwig, B. (1990). Modulation of auditory responsiveness in stridulating grasshoppers. Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 167, 847–856.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heiversen, O. von and Heiversen, D. von. (1994). Forces driving coevolution of song and song recognition in grasshoppers. In K. Schildberger and N. Eisner (eds.), Neural Basis of Behavioural Adaptations (pp. 253–284). Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heywood, J. S. (1989). Sexual selection by the handicap mechanism. Evolution, 43, 1387–1397.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janetos, A. C. (1980). Strategies of female choice: a theoretical analysis. Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology, 7, 107–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jang, Y., Collins, R. D., and Greenfield, M. D. (1997). Variation and repeatability of ultrasonic sexual advertisement signals in Achroia grisella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). Journal of Insect Behavior, 10, 87–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jang, Y. and Greenfield, M. D. (1996). Ultrasonic communication and sexual selection in waxmoths: Female choice based on energy and asynchrony of male signals. Animal Behaviour, 51, 1095–1106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jia, F.-y. and Greenfield, M. D. (1997). When are good genes good? Variable outcomes of female choice in wax moths. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 264, 1057–1063.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnstone, R. (1993). Female preference for symmetrical males as a by-product of selection for mate recognition. Nature, 372, 172–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirkpatrick, M. (1982). Sexual selection and the evolution of female choice. Evolution, 36, 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirkpatrick, M. (1986). The handicap mechanism of sexual selection does not work. American Naturalist, 127, 222–240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirkpatrick, M. (1987). Sexual selection by female choice in polygynous animals. Annual Review of Ecology & Systematics, 18, 43–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirkpatrick, M. and Ryan, M. J. (1991). The paradox of the lek and the evolution of mating preferences. Nature, 350, 33–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kodric-Brown, A. and J. H. Brown. (1984). Truth in advertising: The kinds of traits favored by sexual selection. American Naturalist, 124, 309–323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, E. (1975). Orientation of the male silkmoth to the sex attractant bombykol. In D. A. Denton and J. P. Coghlan (eds.), Olfaction and Taste Vol. 5 (pp. 329–335). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lande, R. (1981). Models of speciation by sexual selection on polygenic traits. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A., 78, 3721–3725.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd, J. E. and Wing, S. R. (1983). Nocturnal aerial predation of fireflies by light-seeking fireflies. Science, 222, 634–635.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maynard Smith, J. (1978). The Evolution of Sex. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maynard Smith, J. (1991). Theories of sexual selection. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 6, 146–151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moller, A. P. (1990a). Fluctuating asymmetry in male ornaments may reliably reveal male quality. Animal Behaviour, 40, 1185–1187.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moller, A. P. (1990b). Effects of parasitism by a haematophagous mite on reproduction in the barn swallow. Ecology, 71, 2345–2357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muller, K. L. (1995). Habitat settlement in territorial species: The effects of habitat quality and conspecifics. Ph.D. dissertation. University of California, Davis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Narins, P. M. (1992). Reduction of tympanic membrane displacement during vocalization of the arboreal frog, Eleutherodactylus coqui. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 91, 3551–3557.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nur, N. and O. Hasson. (1984). Phenotypic plasticity and the handicap principle. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 110, 275–297.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ode, P. J., Antolin, M. F. and Strand, M. R. (1995). Brood-mate avoidance in the parasitic wasp Bracon hebetor Say. Animal Behaviour, 49, 1239–1248.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Donald, P. (1980). Genetic Model of Sexual Selection. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Otte, D. (1977). Communication in Orthoptera: In T. A. Sebeok (ed.), How Animals Communicate (pp. 334–361). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Otte, D. (1989). Speciation in Hawaiian crickets: In D. Otte and J. Endler (eds.), Speciation and its Consequences (pp. 489–526). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Otte, D. and J. Smiley. (1977). Synchrony in Texas fireflies with a consideration of male interaction models. Biology of Behavior, 2, 143–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, G. A. (1983). Mate quality and mating decisions: In P. Bateson (ed.), Mate Choice (pp. 141–164). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petrie, M. (1994). Improved growth and survival of offspring of peacocks with more elaborate trains. Nature, 371, 598–599.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pomiankowski, A. N. (1987). Sexual selection: The handicap principle does work—sometimes. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 231, 123–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pomiankowski, A. N. (1988). The evolution of female mate preferences for male genetic quality. Oxford Surveys in Evolutionary Biology, 5, 136–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prestwich, K. N. (1994). The energetics of acoustic signaling in anurans and insects. American Zoologist, 34, 645–643.

    Google Scholar 

  • Proctor, H. C. (1991). Courtship in the water mite Neumania papillator: Males capitalize on female adaptations for predation. Animal Behaviour, 42, 589–598.

    Google Scholar 

  • Real, L. (1990). Search theory and mate choice: I. Models of single-sex discrimination. American Naturalist, 136, 376–405.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reinhold, K., Greenfield, M. D., Jang, Y. and Broce, A. (1997). Energetic costs of sexual attractiveness: Ultrasonic advertisement in wax moths. Animal Behaviour, 54 in press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ritchie, M. G., Couzin, I. D. and Snedden, W. A. (1995). What’s in a song? Female bushcrickets discriminate against the song of older males. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 262, 21–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, M. J. (1980). Female mate choice in a neotropical frog. Science, 209, 523–525.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, M. J. (1988). Energy, calling and selection. American Zoologist, 28, 885–898.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, M. J. (1994). Mechanisms underlying sexual selection. In L. A. Real (ed.), Behavioral Mechanisms in Evolutionary Ecology (pp. 190–215). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, M. J., Fox, J., Wilczynski, W., and Rand, A. S. (1990). Sexual selection for sensory exploitation in the frog Physalaemus pustulosus. Nature, 343, 66–67.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, M. J. and A. Keddy-Hector. (1992). Directional patterns of female choice and the role of sensory biases. American Naturalist, 139, S4–S35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, M. J. and A. S. Rand. (1993). Species recognition and sexual selection as a unitary problem in animal communication. Evolution, 47, 647–657.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, M. J., Warkentin, K. M., McClelland, B. E., and Wilczynski, W. (1995). Fluctuating asymmetries and advertisement call variation in the cricket frog, Acris crepitans. Behavioral Ecology, 6, 124–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schatral, A., Latimer, W., and Broughton, B. (1984). Spatial dispersion and agonistic contacts of male bush crickets in the biotope. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 65, 201–214.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shelly, T. E. and Greenfield, M. D. (1991). Dominions and desert clickers (Orthoptera: Acrididae): Influences of resources and male signaling on female settlement patterns. Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology, 28, 133–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shelly, T. E., Greenfield, M. D., and Downum, K. R. (1987). Variation in host plant quality: Influences on the mating system of a desert grasshopper. Animal Behaviour, 35, 1200–1209.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sobel, E. C. and Tank, D. W. (1994). In vivo Ca2+ dynamics in a cricket auditory neuron: An example of chemical computation. Science, 263, 823–826.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Spangler, H. G. (1988). Moth hearing, defense, and communication. Annual Review of Entomology, 33, 59–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spangler, H. G., Greenfield, M. D., and Takessian, A. (1984). Ultrasonic mate calling in the lesser wax moth. Physiological Entomology, 9, 87–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stamps, J. A. (1987). Conspecifics as cues to territory quality: A preference of juvenile lizards (Anolis aeneus) for previously used territories. American Naturalist, 129, 629–642.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, T. J. and Masaki, S. (1989). Natural history. In F. Huber, T. E. Moore, and W. Loher (eds.), Cricket Behavior and Neurobiology (pp. 1–42). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallach, H., Newman, E. B. and Rosenzweig, M. R. (1949). The precedence effect in sound localization. American Journal of Psychology, 62, 315–336.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, G.-y., Greenfield, M. D. and Shelly, T. E. (1990). Inter-male competition for high-quality host plants: The evolution of protandry in a territorial grasshopper. Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology, 27, 191–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watt, W. B., Carter, P. A. and Donohue, K. (1986). Females’ choice of “good genotypes” as mates is promoted by an insect mating system. Science, 233, 1187–1190.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • West-Eberhard, M. J. (1984). Sexual selection, competitive communication and species-specific signals in insects. In T. Lewis (ed.), Insect Communication (pp. 283–324). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G. C. (1975). Sex and Evolution. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wyttenbach, R. A. and Hoy, R. R. (1993). Demonstration of the precedence effect in an insect. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 94, 777–784.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zahavi, A. (1975). Mate selection—a selection of a handicap. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 53, 205–214.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zahavi, A. (1977). Reliability in communication systems and the evolution of altruism. In B. Stonehouse and C. M. Perrins (eds.), Evolutionary Ecology (pp. 253–259). London, England: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zahavi, A. (1993). The fallacy of conventional signalling. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 340, 227–230.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zeh, J. A. and Zeh, D. W. (1994). Last-male sperm precedence breaks down when females mate with three males. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 257, 287–292.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zelick, R. (1986). Jamming avoidance in electric fish and frogs: Strategies of signal oscillator timing. Brain, Behavior & Evolution, 28, 60–69.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zuk, M. (1994). Immunology and the evolution of behavior. In L.A. Real (ed.), Behavioral Mechanisms in Evolutionary Ecology (pp. 354–368). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 66045, USA

    Michael D. Greenfield

Authors
  1. Michael D. Greenfield
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, 95616, USA

    Donald H. Owings

  2. Animal Behavior Program Departments of Psychology and Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195, USA

    Michael D. Beecher

  3. Departments of Biology and Psychology, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, Massachusetts, 01610-1477, USA

    Nicholas S. Thompson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Greenfield, M.D. (1997). Sexual Selection and the Evolution of Advertisement Signals. In: Owings, D.H., Beecher, M.D., Thompson, N.S. (eds) Communication. Perspectives in Ethology, vol 12. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1745-4_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1745-4_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-1747-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-1745-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation