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Maintenance of polymorphic females: do parasites play a role?

  • Behavioral ecology - Original research
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Abstract

The role of parasites in explaining maintenance of polymorphism is an unexplored research avenue. In odonates, female-limited color polymorphism (one female morph mimicking the conspecific male and one or more gynochromatic morphs) is widespread. Here we investigated whether parasitism contributes to color polymorphism maintenance by studying six species of female dimorphic damselflies using large databases of field-collected animals. We predicted that androchrome females (male mimics) would be more intensively parasitized than gynochrome females which is, according to previous studies, counterbalanced by the advantages of the former when evading male harassment compared to gynochrome females. Here we show that in Ischnura denticollis and Enallagma novahispaniae, androchrome females suffer from a higher degree of parasitism than gynochromatic females, and contrary to prediction, than males. Thus, our study has detected a correlation between color polymorphism and parasitic burden in odonates. This leads us to hypothesize that natural selection, via parasite pressure, can explain in part how androchrome and gynochrome female color morphs can be maintained. Both morphs may cope with parasites in a different way: given that androchrome females are more heavily parasitized, they may pay a higher fecundity costs, in comparison to gynochrome females.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Haydeé Peralta Vázquez and Jorge Canales Lazcano for their help during field work and Jesús Ramsés Chávez Ríos provided valuable comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. Thanks also to Thomas Hoffmeister for key comments to an earlier version. This research was funded by a PAPIIT grant IN 204610. RSG is supported by a postdoctoral grant (Dirección General de Asunto del Personal Académico) from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Collection of animals complies with the current laws of Mexico and Canada.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Apdo. Postal 70-275, México, D.F, Mexico, 04510, USA

    R. A. Sánchez-Guillén, S. M. J. Martínez-Zamilpa, J. G. Jiménez-Cortés & A. Córdoba-Aguilar

  2. Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, KlS 5B6, Canada

    M. R. L. Forbes

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  1. R. A. Sánchez-Guillén
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  2. S. M. J. Martínez-Zamilpa
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  3. J. G. Jiménez-Cortés
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  4. M. R. L. Forbes
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  5. A. Córdoba-Aguilar
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Correspondence to R. A. Sánchez-Guillén or A. Córdoba-Aguilar.

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Communicated by Thomas Hoffmeister.

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Sánchez-Guillén, R.A., Martínez-Zamilpa, S.M.J., Jiménez-Cortés, J.G. et al. Maintenance of polymorphic females: do parasites play a role?. Oecologia 171, 105–113 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-012-2388-7

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