Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Personalities and presence of hyperaggressive males influence male mating exclusivity and effective mating in stream water striders

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

Abstract

Male expected reproductive success can be enhanced by increased mating success (mate number) or, when females can mate multiply, by increased mating exclusivity (i.e., reduced partner promiscuity). A positive or negative covariance between these two mating outcomes could substantially increase or decrease overall variation in male expected reproductive success, yet the relationship between these mating outcomes is relatively understudied. We examined this relationship and the influence of male personality traits, female personality traits, and the social environment on mating outcomes in stream water striders, Aquarius remigis, at two experimental sex ratios: equal and 2:1 male-biased. To our knowledge, this study is the first to quantify this full set of effects. We found that mating frequency (mating success) and mating exclusivity were positively correlated in the male-biased treatment, but were not related at equal sex ratios. At both sex ratios, males that were more active and aggressive had both higher mating frequency and higher mating exclusivity. A male’s effective mating (the product of mating frequency and mating exclusivity) was also higher if on average he mated with females that tended to hide in refuges (and were presumably less available for future matings). Finally, males that were more often in pools with extremely aggressive (“hyperaggressive”) males actually had increased mating exclusivity, potentially because hyperaggression reduced average female promiscuity. This study highlights the importance of considering mating outcomes beyond mating success and examining the simultaneous contribution of male behaviours, female behaviours and social factors to mating dynamics.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albrecht T, Schnitzer J, Kreisinger J, Exnerová A, Bryja J, Munclinger P (2007) Extrapair paternity and the opportunity for sexual selection in long-distant migratory passerines. Behav Ecol 18(2):477–486. doi:10.1093/beheco/arm001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andersson MB (1994) Sexual selection. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold SJ (1994) Bateman’s principles and the measurement of sexual selection in plants and animals. Am Nat 144 (ArticleType: research-article / Issue Title: Supplement: Sexual Selection in Plants and Animals / Full publication date: Aug., 1994 / Copyright © 1994 The University of Chicago):S126-S149. doi:10.2307/2462732

  • Arnold SJ, Wade MJ (1984a) On the measurement of natural and sexual selection: applications. Evolution 38(4):720–734. doi:10.2307/2408384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arnold SJ, Wade MJ (1984b) On the measurement of natural and sexual selection: theory. Evolution 38(4):709–719. doi:10.2307/2408383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arnqvist G, Rowe L (2005) Sexual conflict. Monographs in behavior and ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Baayen RH (2011) languageR: data sets and functions with “Analyzing linguistic data: a practical introduction to statistics”. R package version 1.4 edn.,

  • Balenger SL, Scott Johnson L, Mays HL Jr, Masters BS (2009) Extra-pair paternity in the socially monogamous mountain bluebird Sialia currucoides and its effect on the potential for sexual selection. J Avian Biol 40(2):173–180. doi:10.1111/j.1600-048X.2009.04521.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bateman AJ (1948) Intra-sexual selection in Drosophila. Heredity 2(Pt. 3):349–368

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bates D, Maechler M, Bolker B (2012) lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using S4 classes. 0.999999-0 edn. R package,

  • Blanckenhorn WU, Fairbairn DJ (1995) Life history adaptation along a latitudinal cline in the water strider Aquarius remigis (Heteroptera: Gerridae). J Evol Biol 8(1):21–41. doi:10.1046/j.1420-9101.1995.8010021.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell V, Fairbairn DJ (2001) Prolonged copulation and the internal dynamics of sperm transfer in the water strider Aquarius remigis. Can J Zool 79(10):1801–1812. doi:10.1139/z01-148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang AT, Sih A (2013) Multilevel selection and effects of keystone hyperaggressive males on mating success and behavior in stream water striders. Behav Ecol 24(5):1166–1176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Parker GA (1992) Potential reproductive rates and the operation of sexual selection. Q Rev Biol 67:437–456

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crawley MJ (2007) The R book. Wiley, West Sussex

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Csardi G, Nepusz T (2006) The igraph software package for complex network research. InterJournal, Complex Systems 1695

  • Development Core Team R (2012) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna

    Google Scholar 

  • Dingemanse NJ, Kazem AJN, Réale D, Wright J (2010) Behavioural reaction norms: animal personality meets individual plasticity. Trends Ecol Evol 25(2):81–89. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2009.07.013

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eldakar OT, Dlugos MJ, Wilcox RS, Wilson DS (2009) Aggressive mating as a tragedy of the commons in the water strider Aquarius remigis. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 64(1):25–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eldakar OT, Wilson DS, Dlugos MJ, Pepper JW (2010) The role of multilevel selection in the evolution of sexual conflict in the water strider Aquarius remigis. Evolution 64(11):3183–3189

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Emlen ST, Oring LW (1977) Ecology, sexual selection, and the evolution of mating systems. Science 197(4300):215–223

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fairbairn D (1993) Costs of loading associated with mate-carrying in the waterstrider, Aquarius remigis. Behav Ecol 4(3):224–231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher RA (1930) The genetical theory of natural selection. Clarendon, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Han CS, Brooks RC (2013) Evolution of individual variation in behaviour and behavioural plasticity under scramble competition. Anim Behav 86(2):435–442. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.05.039

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hasselquist D, Bensch S (1991) Trade-off between mate guarding and mate attraction in the polygynous great reed warbler. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 28(3):187–193. doi:10.1007/bf00172170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jennings DJ, Hayden TJ, Gammell MP (2013) Personality and predictability in fallow deer fighting behaviour: the relationship with mating success. Anim Behav 86(5):1041–1047. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.09.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones AG, Ratterman NL (2009) Mate choice and sexual selection: what have we learned since Darwin? Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 106(Supplement 1):10001–10008. doi:10.1073/pnas.0901129106

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Krakauer A, Webster M, Duval E, Jones A, Shuster S (2011) The opportunity for sexual selection: not mismeasured, just misunderstood. J Evol Biol 24(9):2064–2071

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Krupa JJ, Sih A (1993) Experimental studies on water strider mating dynamics: spatial variation in density and sex ratio. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 33(2):107–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laland KN, Odling-Smee J, Feldman MW (2000) Niche construction, biological evolution, and cultural change. Behav Brain Sci 23(01):131–146. doi:10.1017/S0140525X00002417

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liljeros F, Edling CR, Amaral LAN (2003) Sexual networks: implications for the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Microbes Infect 5(2):189–196. doi:10.1016/S1286-4579(02)00058-8

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Martin JGA, Réale D (2008) Temperament, risk assessment and habituation to novelty in eastern chipmunks, Tamias striatus. Anim Behav 75(1):309–318. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.05.026

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Modlmeier AP, Keiser CN, Watters JV, Sih A, Pruitt JN (2014) The keystone individual concept: an ecological and evolutionary overview. Anim Behav 89(0):53–62. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.12.020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Møller AP, Birkhead TR (1991) Frequent copulations and mate guarding as alternative paternity guards in birds: a comparative study. Behaviour 118(3/4):170–186. doi:10.2307/4534963

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montiglio P-O, Ferrari C, Réale D (2013) Social niche specialization under constraints: personality, social interactions and environmental heterogeneity. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 368(1618):20120343. doi:10.1098/rstb.2012.0343

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oh KP, Badyaev AV (2010) Structure of social networks in a passerine bird: consequences for sexual selection and the evolution of mating strategies. Am Nat 176(3):E80–E89. doi:10.1086/655216

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Parker GA (1970) Sperm competition and its evolutionary consequences in the insects. Biol Rev 45(4):525–567

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patrick SC, Chapman JR, Dugdale HL, Quinn JL, Sheldon BC (2012) Promiscuity, paternity and personality in the great tit. Proc R Soc Lond B 279(1734):1724–1730. doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.1820

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson GK (1991) That BLUP is a good thing: the estimation of random effects. Stat Sci 6(1):15–32. doi:10.2307/2245695

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowe L, Arnqvist G, Sih A, Krupa JJ (1994) Sexual conflict and the evolutionary ecology of mating patterns: water striders as a model system. Trends Ecol Evol 9(8):289–293

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rubenstein DI (1989) Sperm competition in the water strider, Gerris remigis. Anim Behav 38(4):631–636. doi:10.1016/S0003-3472(89)80008-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saltz JB, Nuzhdin SV (2014) Genetic variation in niche construction: implications for development and evolutionary genetics. Trends Ecol Evol 29(1):8–14. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2013.09.011

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schuett W, Tregenza T, Dall SRX (2010) Sexual selection and animal personality. Biol Rev 85(2):217–246

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shuster SM, Wade MJ (2003) Mating systems and strategies. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Sih A (2013) Frontiers on the interface between behavioral syndromes and social behavioral ecology. In: Carere C, Maestripieri D (eds) Animal personalities: behavior, physiology, and evolution. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Sih A, Bell AM (2008) Insights for behavioral ecology from behavioral syndromes. Adv Study Behav 38:227–281

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sih A, Krupa JJ (1995) Interacting effects of predation risk and male and female density on male/female conflicts and mating dynamics of stream water striders. Behav Ecol 6(3):316–325. doi:10.1093/beheco/6.3.316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sih A, Krupa JJ (1996) Direct and indirect effects of multiple enemies on water strider mating dynamics. Oecologia 105(2):179–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sih A, Watters JV (2005) The mix matters: behavioural types and group dynamics in water striders. Behaviour 142(9):1417–1431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sih A, Krupa J, Travers S (1990) An experimental study on the effects of predation risk and feeding regime on the mating behavior of the water strider. Am Nat 135(2):284–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sih A, Lauer M, Krupa JJ (2002) Path analysis and the relative importance of male–female conflict, female choice and male–male competition in water striders. Anim Behav 63(6):1079–1089

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sih A, Bell AM, Johnson JC, Ziemba RE (2004) Behavioral syndromes: an integrative overview. Q Rev Biol 79(3):241–277. doi:10.1086/422893

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sih A, Hanser SF, McHugh KA (2009) Social network theory: new insights and issues for behavioral ecologists. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 63(7):975–988

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sih A, Wey TW, Chang AT (2014) Effects of behavioural type, social skill and the social environment on male mating success in water striders. Anim Behav In press

  • Sinervo B, Lively CM (1996) The rock-paper-scissors game and the evolution of alternative male strategies. Nature 380(6571):240–243. doi:10.1038/380240a0

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stamps J, Groothuis TGG (2010) The development of animal personality: relevance, concepts and perspectives. Biol Rev 85(2):301–325. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2009.00103.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van Oers K, Drent PJ, Dingemanse NJ, Kempenaers B (2008) Personality is associated with extrapair paternity in great tits, Parus major. Anim Behav 76(3):555–563. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.03.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vermette R, Fairbairn DJ (2002) How well do mating frequency and duration predict paternity success in the polygynandrous water strider Aquarius remigis? Evolution 56(9):1808–1820

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wade MJ (1979) Sexual selection and variance in reproductive success. Am Nat 114(5):742–747

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webster MS, Pruett-Jones S, Westneat DF, Arnold SJ (1995) Measuring the effects of pairing success, extra-pair copulations and mate quality on the opportunity for sexual selection. Evolution 49(6):1147–1157. doi:10.2307/2410439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westneat DF, Stewart IRK (2003) Extra-pair paternity in birds: causes, correlates, and conflict. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 34:365–396. doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.34.011802.132439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • While GM, Sinn DL, Wapstra E (2009) Female aggression predicts mode of paternity acquisition in a social lizard. Proc R Soc Lond B 276(1664):2021–2029. doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.1926

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White DJ, Gersick AS, Snyder-Mackler N (2012) Social networks and the development of social skills in cowbirds. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 367(1597):1892–1900

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wilcox RS (1984) Male copulatory guarding enhances female foraging in a water strider. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 15(3):171–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zamudio KR, Sinervo B (2000) Polygyny, mate-guarding, and posthumous fertilization as alternative male mating strategies. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 97(26):14427–14432. doi:10.1073/pnas.011544998

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was funded by a National Science Foundation research grant (IOS 0952132, to A.S.), a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship in biology (DBI-1003282, to T.W.W.) and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (to A.T.C.). We thank James F. A. Traniello, Nina Wedell, Karoline Fritzsche and an anonymous reviewer for constructive feedback on an earlier version of this manuscript. We also thank many student research assistants for data collection and entry, and David J. Harris and Pierre-Olivier Montiglio for their help with statistical analyses.

Ethical standards

All experiments comply with the current laws of the USA.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California at Davis, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Tina W. Wey, Ann T. Chang, Sean Fogarty & Andrew Sih

  2. Biology Department, New Mexico State University, MSC 3AF, Las Cruces, NM, 88003, USA

    Tina W. Wey

  3. Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California at Berkeley, 3101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Ann T. Chang

  4. Princeton University, Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA

    Sean Fogarty

Authors
  1. Tina W. Wey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ann T. Chang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sean Fogarty
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Andrew Sih
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tina W. Wey.

Additional information

Communicated by N. Wedell

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wey, T.W., Chang, A.T., Fogarty, S. et al. Personalities and presence of hyperaggressive males influence male mating exclusivity and effective mating in stream water striders. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 69, 27–37 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-014-1814-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-014-1814-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation