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Alternative reproductive strategies in black-winged territorial males of Paraphlebia zoe (Odonata, Thaumatoneuridae).

ABSTRACT: Alternative reproductive strategies are commonly associated with male dimorphism. In Paraphlebia zoe, a species of damselfly whose males are dimorphic in wing coloration, black-and-white-winged (BW) males defend territories, while hyaline-winged (HW) males usually play the role of satellites. We found that several BW males can sometimes share a territory, and we hypothesized that within this morph there are two alternative tactics: submissive and dominant. We conducted an experiment to test whether dominant and submissive roles are plastic or stable and fixed on each individual. To this end, we manipulated black and white spots of BW males in four treatments: (i) painting over white and black spots without changing their size, (ii) erasing the white spot using black painting, (iii) increasing the black spot and moving the white spot maintaining its size and (iv) control males. Additionally, we investigated the correlation between some phenotypic variables (wing asymmetry, survival and recapture probabilities) and male behaviour (in terms of quality of the territory). We found that the two behavioural roles (submissive and dominant) were not affected by the manipulative experiments, therefore suggesting that they are stable and fixed. Additionally, we found a positive correlation between body size and survival in both sexes, and a positive effect of territory quality and lifespan on mating success. Moreover, the largest and youngest BW males were the most symmetrical. We conclude that Paraphlebia zoe holds high behavioural diversity, with two types of strategies in BW males, dominant and submissive. The occurrence of this intra-morph behavioural diversity might depend on demographic factors such as population density and/or the relative frequency of the different morphs.

SUBMITTER: Rivas-Torres A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6387578 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Low-frequency urban noise can interfere with avian communication through masking. Some species are able to shift the frequency of their vocalizations upwards in noisy conditions, which may reduce the effects of masking. However, results from playback studies investigating whether or not such vocal changes improve audibility in noisy conditions are not clear; the responses of free-ranging individuals to shifted signals are potentially confounded by functional trade-offs between masking-related audibility and frequency-dependent signal quality. Black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) naturally sing their songs at several different frequencies as they pitch-shift to match conspecifics during song-matching contests. They are also known to switch to higher song frequencies in response to experimental noise exposure. Each male produces both high- and low-frequency songs and absolute frequency is not a signal of aggression or dominance, making this an interesting species in which to test whether higher-frequency songs are more audible than lower-frequency songs in noisy conditions. We conducted playback studies across southern and central British Columbia, Canada, using paired song stimuli (high- vs low-frequency songs, n = 24 pairs) embedded in synthetic background noise created to match typical urban sound profiles. Over the course of each playback, the signal-to-noise ratio of the song stimuli was gradually increased by raising the amplitude of the song stimuli while maintaining background noise at a constant amplitude. We evaluated variation in how quickly and aggressively territorial males reacted to each of the paired stimuli. We found that males responded more quickly to playbacks of high- than low-frequency songs when high-frequency songs were presented first, but not when low-frequency songs were first. This difference may be explained by high-frequency songs being more audible combined with a carry-over effect resulting in slower responses to the second stimulus due to habituation. We observed no difference in overall aggression between stimuli. These results suggest that high-frequency songs may be more audible under noisy conditions.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Many species of social insects have large-scale mating and dispersal flights and their populations are therefore often relatively homogenous. In contrast, dispersal on the wing appears to be uncommon in most species of the ant genus Cardiocondyla, because its males are wingless and the winged queens mate in their natal nests before dispersing on foot. Here we examine the population structure of C. venustula from South Africa. This species is of particular interest for the analysis of life history evolution in Cardiocondyla, as it occupies a phylogenetic position between tropical species with multi-queen (polygynous) colonies and fighting males and a Palearctic clade with single-queen colonies and mutually peaceful males. Males of C. venustula exhibit an intermediate strategy between lethal fighting and complete tolerance - they mostly engage in non-lethal fights and defend small territories inside their natal nests. We investigated how this reproductive behavior influences colony and population structure by analyzing samples on two geographic scales in South Africa: a small 40?×?40m2 plot and a larger area with distances up to 5?km between sampling sites in Rietvlei Nature Reserve near Pretoria. RESULTS:Colonies were found to be facultatively polygynous and queens appear to mate only with a single male. The extraordinarily high inbreeding coefficient suggests regular sib-mating. Budding by workers and young queens is the predominant mode of colony-founding and leads to high population viscosity. In addition, some queens appear to found colonies independently or through adoption into foreign nests. CONCLUSION:While C. venustula resembles tropical Cardiocondyla in queen number and mating frequency, it differs by the absence of winged disperser males. Dispersal by solitary, mated queens on foot or by short flights and their adoption by alien colonies might promote gene flow between colonies and counteract prolonged inbreeding. The abundance of suitable habitat and the high density of nests facilitate the spread of this species by budding and together with the apparent resistance against inbreeding make it a highly successful pioneer species and invader of degraded and man-made habitats.

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Alternative reproductive strategies in black-winged territorial males of Paraphlebia zoe (Odonata, Thaumatoneuridae).

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