Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Departamento de Ecología y Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo 11600, Uruguay.
Laboratorio de Biología Reproductiva y Evolución, Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba - CONICET, Av. Vélez Sarsfield 299 (C.P. 5000), Córdoba, Argentina.
Behav Processes. 2022 Jan;194:104547. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2021.104547. Epub 2021 Nov 23.
Body size, nuptial gift characteristics and courtship behaviour, among other traits, can reflect the quality of a potential mate and, thus, might be under sexual selection. To maximize their mating success, individuals can show behavioural plasticity in sexual context. Allocosa senex is a burrow-digging wolf spider that exhibits reversal in courtship roles and in sexual size-dimorphism expected for spiders. Males construct the mating refuge and females prefer males that build longer burrows, which are considered as nuptial gifts because they are delivered to them after mating. This study aims to determine whether male body size and female reproductive status influence burrow dimensions, courtship displays, female preferences and cannibalism rate in A. senex. For that purpose, we allowed males to construct burrows and performed sexual trials under laboratory conditions. Larger males were more courted by females, and in turn, they expressed more vibratory behaviours during courtship. However, and contrary to our expectations, smaller males constructed longer burrows. We suggest that males of A. senex exhibit size-dependent behavioural plasticity, and when they are smaller, they invest more in burrow construction to compensate their lower opportunities of courting intensively as larger males. In addition, females courted differentially according to their reproductive status, overriding male preferences for virgin females. This study opens several doors to future research regarding mutual choice in A. senex and the traits assessed by males and females during courtship, as well as about the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors shaping reproductive decision-making in this and other wandering spider species.
体型、婚礼物品特征和求偶行为等特征可以反映潜在配偶的质量，因此可能受到性选择的影响。为了最大限度地提高交配成功率，个体可以在性环境中表现出行为可塑性。Allocosa senex 是一种穴居狼蛛，它表现出求偶角色的逆转和蜘蛛中预期的性体型二态性。雄性建造交配避难所，而雌性更喜欢建造更长洞穴的雄性，这些洞穴被视为婚礼物品，因为它们在交配后被送给雌性。本研究旨在确定雄性体型和雌性繁殖状态是否影响 A. senex 的洞穴尺寸、求偶行为、雌性偏好和同类相食率。为此，我们允许雄性建造洞穴，并在实验室条件下进行性试验。较大的雄性更容易受到雌性的求偶，反过来，它们在求偶过程中表现出更多的振动行为。然而，与我们的预期相反，较小的雄性建造了更长的洞穴。我们认为，A. senex 的雄性表现出依赖于体型的行为可塑性，当它们体型较小时，它们会更多地投资于洞穴建造，以弥补作为较大雄性时求偶强度较低的机会。此外，雌性根据其繁殖状态进行不同程度的求偶，忽略了雄性对处女雌性的偏好。这项研究为未来关于 A. senex 中的相互选择以及雄性和雌性在求偶过程中评估的特征的研究以及关于内在和外在因素对这种和其他游荡蜘蛛物种的繁殖决策的影响的研究开辟了几个方向。
