Identifying the traits that influence mate choice is a major challenge in behavioural ecology and evolutionary biology. Male dominance often conditions mating decisions by females but how the hierarchical status of potential mates is assessed remains poorly understood. In crustacean decapods, chemical signals convey information about male sexual responsiveness and quality. However, at least in the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii, females appeared unable to recognize dominant mates using smell only. Here, we provide the first evidence that a form of social eavesdropping may occur in an invertebrate species. We found that crayfish females use the information gathered by watching male-male aggressive contests to assess the suitability of future mates. Once free to choose, bystander (but not naïve) females approached the winner more often than the looser, remained in its proximity for longer, and attempted to mate with him more often. These results pinpoint new comparative lines of research on the mechanisms of information transfer in animals.
Crayfish females eavesdrop on fighting males before choosing the dominant mate / L. AQUILONI; M. BUŘIČ; F. GHERARDI. - In: CURRENT BIOLOGY. - ISSN 0960-9822. - STAMPA. - 18:(2008), pp. 462-463. [10.1016/j.cub.2008.04.006]
Crayfish females eavesdrop on fighting males before choosing the dominant mate.
AQUILONI, LAURA;GHERARDI, FRANCESCA
2008
Abstract
Identifying the traits that influence mate choice is a major challenge in behavioural ecology and evolutionary biology. Male dominance often conditions mating decisions by females but how the hierarchical status of potential mates is assessed remains poorly understood. In crustacean decapods, chemical signals convey information about male sexual responsiveness and quality. However, at least in the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii, females appeared unable to recognize dominant mates using smell only. Here, we provide the first evidence that a form of social eavesdropping may occur in an invertebrate species. We found that crayfish females use the information gathered by watching male-male aggressive contests to assess the suitability of future mates. Once free to choose, bystander (but not naïve) females approached the winner more often than the looser, remained in its proximity for longer, and attempted to mate with him more often. These results pinpoint new comparative lines of research on the mechanisms of information transfer in animals.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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AquiloniEtAl_CurrentBiology2008.pdf
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