Hernández Mónica Vega, Fabre Caroline Cecile Gabrielle
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ UK.
J Insect Behav. 2017;30(5):582-594. doi: 10.1007/s10905-017-9641-1. Epub 2017 Oct 18.
courtship shows some flexibility and courting males sometimes perform an elaborate postural display in addition to the standard courtship behaviours shared by most species. This postural display includes the acrobatic contortion and tremulation of their abdomen, accompanied by the generation of substrate-borne vibrations, and they proffer a nutritional droplet to the female. Here, we use courtship and choice assays to ask what triggers this display and what advantages males may gain from it during courtship. In pair assays, we found no differences in the courtship duration and copulation success between displaying and non-displaying males. In trio assays, however, the female always mated with the male who performed the display. To investigate what promotes the male display, we varied the level of receptivity of the female and studied the impact of a second male. We found that rejection by the female does not induce the male to display, contrary to what was previously suggested. We present evidence that the male display is in fact promoted by the presence of an attentive and sexually receptive female and the absence of male competition, with the greatest exhibition rate obtained if the courted female is starved. These findings provide valuable information about the social ecology of flies, and how internal and external cues influence sexual behaviours and mate choice.
求偶行为表现出一定的灵活性，求偶的雄性有时除了会做出大多数物种共有的标准求偶行为外，还会进行精心编排的姿势展示。这种姿势展示包括腹部的杂技般扭曲和颤动，并伴随着产生基质传播的振动，而且它们会向雌性提供一个营养液滴。在此，我们使用求偶和选择试验来探究是什么触发了这种展示，以及雄性在求偶过程中可能从中获得什么优势。在成对试验中，我们发现进行展示和不进行展示的雄性在求偶持续时间和交配成功率上没有差异。然而，在三重试验中，雌性总是与进行展示的雄性交配。为了探究是什么促使雄性进行展示，我们改变了雌性的接受程度，并研究了第二个雄性的影响。我们发现，与之前的观点相反，雌性的拒绝并不会促使雄性进行展示。我们提供的证据表明，雄性的展示实际上是由一个专注且具有性接受能力的雌性的存在以及雄性竞争的缺失所促进的，如果被求偶的雌性处于饥饿状态，展示率会最高。这些发现为苍蝇的社会生态学以及内部和外部线索如何影响性行为和配偶选择提供了有价值的信息。
