Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Do female association preferences predict the likelihood of reproduction?

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Sexual selection acting on male traits through female mate choice is commonly inferred from female association preferences in dichotomous mate choice experiments. However, there are surprisingly few empirical demonstrations that such association preferences predict the likelihood of females reproducing with a particular male. This information is essential to confirm association preferences as good predictors of mate choice. We used green swordtails (Xiphophorus helleri) to test whether association preferences predict the likelihood of a female reproducing with a male. Females were tested for a preference for long- or short-sworded males in a standard dichotomous choice experiment and then allowed free access to either their preferred or non-preferred male. If females subsequently failed to produce fry, they were provided a second unfamiliar male with similar sword length to the first male. Females were more likely to reproduce with preferred than non-preferred males, but for those that reproduced, neither the status (preferred/non-preferred) nor the sword length (long/short) of the male had an effect on brood size or relative investment in growth by the female. There was no overall preference based on sword length in this study, but male sword length did affect likelihood of reproduction, with females more likely to reproduce with long- than short-sworded males (independent of preference for such males in earlier choice tests). These results suggest that female association preferences are good indicators of female mate choice but that ornament characteristics of the male are also important.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andersson M (1994) Sexual selection. Princeton University Press, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Aspbury AS, Basolo AL (2002) Repeatable female preferences, mating order and mating success in the poeciliid fish, Heterandria formosa. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 51:238–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basolo AL (1990) Female preference for male sword length in the green swordtail, Xiphophorus helleri (Pisces, Poeciliidae). Anim Behav 40:332–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basolo AL (1998a) Shift in investment between sexually-selected traits: tarnishing of the silver spoon. Anim Behav 55:665–671

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Basolo AL (1998b) Evolutionary change in a receiver bias: a comparison of female preference functions. Proc R Soc Lond B 265:2223–2228

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bischoff RJ, Gould JL, Rubenstein DI (1985) Tail size and female choice in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 17:253–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bisazza A, Vaccari G, Pilastro A (2001) Female mate choice in a mating system dominated by male sexual coercion. Behav Ecol 12:59–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Birkhead TR, Buchanan KL, Devoogd TL, Pellatt EJ, Székely T, Catchpole CK (1997) Song, sperm quality and testes asymmetry in the sedge warbler. Anim Behav 53:965–971

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blount JD, Metcalfe NB, Birkhead TR, Surai PF (2003) Carotenoid modulation of immune function and sexual attractiveness in zebra finches. Science 300:125–127

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burley N (1988) The differential allocation hypothesis: an experimental test. Am Nat 132:611–628

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chong ASC, Ishak SD, Osman Z, Hashim R (2004) Effect of dietary protein level on the reproductive performance of female swordtails Xiphophorus helleri (Poeciliidae). Aquaculture 234:381–392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clayton NS (1990) Assortative mating in zebra finch subspecies. Taeniopygia guttata guttata and T. g. castanotis. Phil Trans R Soc Lond B 330:351–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crawley MJ (2005) Statistics. An introduction using R. Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummings M, Mollaghan D (2006) Repeatability and consistency of female preference behaviours in a northern swordtail, Xiphophorus nigrensis. Anim Behav 72:217–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham EJA, Russell AF (2000) Egg investment is influenced by male attractiveness in the mallard. Nature 404:74–77

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Drickamer LC, Gowaty PA, Holmes CM (2000) Free female mate choice in house mice affects reproductive success and offspring viability and performance. Anim Behav 59:371–378

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Evans JP, Zane L, Francescato S, Pilastro A (2003) Directional postcopulatory sexual selection revealed by artificial insemination. Nature 421:360–363

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez AA, Morris MR (2008) Mate choice for more melanin as a mechanism to maintain a functional oncogene. Proc Nat Acad Sci, USA 105:13503–13507

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabor C (1999) Association patterns of sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna): alternative hypotheses. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 46:333–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gil D, Graves J, Hazon N, Wells A (1999) Male attractiveness and differential testosterone investment in zebra finch eggs. Science 286:126–128

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gorman HE, Arnold KE, Nager RG (2005) Incubation effort in relation to male attractiveness in zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata. J Avian Biol 36:413–420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill GE (1994) Geographic variation in male ornamentation and female mate preference in the house finch: a comparative test of models of sexual selection. Behav Ecol 5:64–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houde AE (1988) The effect of female choice and male-male competition on the mating success of male guppies. Anim Behav 36:888–896

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houde AE (1997) Sex, color, and mate choice in guppies. Princeton University Press, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Jennions MD, Petrie M (1997) Variation in mate choice and mating preferences: a review of causes and consequences. Biol Rev 72:283–287

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kodric-Brown A (1989) Dietary carotenoids and male mating success in the guppy: an environmental component to female choice. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 25:393–401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kokko H, Brooks R, Jennions MD, Morley J (2003) The evolution of mate choice and mating biases. Proc R Soc Lond B 270:653–664

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolm N (2001) Females produce larger eggs for large males in a paternal mouthbrooding fish. Proc R Soc Lond B 268:2229–2234

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kruger DP, Britz PJ, Sales J (2001) The influence of livefeed supplementation on growth and reproductive performance of swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri Heckel 1848) broodstock. Aq Sci Cons 3:265–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lehtonen TK, Lindström K (2008) Repeatability of mating preferences in the sand goby. Anim Behav 75:55–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis SM, Austad SN (1994) Sexual selection in four beetles: the relationship between sperm precedence and male olfactory attractiveness. Behav Ecol 5:219–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luo J, Sanetra M, Schartl M, Meyer A (2005) Strong reproductive skew among males in the multiply mated swordtail Xiphophorus multilineatus (Teleostei). Heredity 96:346–355

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pilastro A, Evans JP, Sartorelli S, Bisazza A (2002) Male phenotype predicts insemination success in guppies. Proc R Soc Lond B 269:1325–1330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pitcher TE, Neff BD, Rodd FH, Rowe L (2003) Multiple mating and sequential mate choice in guppies: females trade up. Proc R Soc Lond B 270:1623–1629

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pizzari T, Birkhead TR (2000) Female feral fowl eject sperm of subdominant males. Nature 405:787–789

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2008) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. ISBN 3-900051-07-0, URL http://www.R-project.org

  • Rintamäki PT, Lundberg A, Alatalo RV, Höglund J (1998) Assortative mating and female clutch investment in black grouse. Anim Behav 56:1399–1403

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenthal GG, Evans CS (1998) Female preference for swords in Xiphophorus helleri reflects a bias for large apparent size. Proc Nat Acad Sci, USA 95:4431–4436

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rutstein AN, Gilbert L, Slater PJB, Graves JA (2004) Mate attractiveness and primary resource allocation in the zebra finch. Anim Behav 68:1087–1094

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rutstein AN, Brazill-Boast J, Griffith SC (2007) Evaluating mate choice in the zebra finch. Anim Behav 74:1277–1284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan MJ, Wagner WE Jr (1987) Asymmetries in mating preferences between species: female swordtails prefer heterospecific males. Science 236:595–597

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan MJ, Hews DK, Wagner WE Jr (1990) Sexual selection on alleles that determine body size in the swordtail Xiphophorus nigrensis. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 26:231–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shackleton MA, Jennions MD, Hunt J (2005) Fighting success and attractiveness as predictors of male mating success in the black field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus: the effectiveness of no-choice tests. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 58:1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheldon BC (2000) Differential allocation: tests, mechanisms and implications. TREE 15:397–402

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner WE Jr (1998) Measuring female mating preferences. Anim Behav 55:1029–1042

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walling CA, Royle NJ, Metcalfe NB, Lindström J (2007) Green swordtails alter their age at maturation in response to the population level of male ornamentation. Biol Let 3:144–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walling CA, Royle NJ, Lindström J, Metcalfe NB (2008) Experience induced preference for short-sworded males in the green swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri). Anim Behav 76:271–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wong BB, Rosenthal GG (2006) Female disdain for swords in a swordtail fish. Am Nat 167:136–140

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank two anonymous referees for perceptive comments on the manuscript and J. Laurie and G. Adam for help with animal husbandry. CAW was funded by a Natural Environment Research Council studentship.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Craig A. Walling

    Present address: Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, Scotland, UK

  2. Nick J. Royle

    Present address: Daphne du Maurier School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Penryn Cornwall, TR10 9EZ, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biomedical & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Scotland, UK

    Craig A. Walling, Nick J. Royle, Jan Lindström & Neil B. Metcalfe

Authors
  1. Craig A. Walling
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nick J. Royle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jan Lindström
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Neil B. Metcalfe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Craig A. Walling.

Additional information

Communicated by C. Gabor

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Walling, C.A., Royle, N.J., Lindström, J. et al. Do female association preferences predict the likelihood of reproduction?. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 64, 541–548 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-009-0869-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-009-0869-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation