TY - JOUR
T1 - Natural selection drives the link between male immune function and reproductive potential
AU - Fedorka, Kenneth M.
AU - Zuk, Marlene
AU - Mousseau, Timothy A.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2008 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2005/7
Y1 - 2005/7
N2 - In the ground cricket Allonemobius socius (Scudder 1877), males provide females with a hemolymph-based nuptial gift. The size of the gift depends on when copulation is terminated, which can be controlled by either sex. Here we show that more immunocompetent males provide larger nuptial gifts, increasing their reproductive potential. To address if this pattern was the consequence of sexual selection for an honest signal (i.e., females assess mate immune quality through the hemolymph), we examined which sex controlled gift size. We found that the probability that males initiated the end of copulation increased when gift size was small (stereotypical of less immunocompetent males). Thus, early termination of copulation was the consequence of male behavior, suggesting that the association between immunocompetence and gift size was not due to sexual selection, but to natural selection for male vigor.
AB - In the ground cricket Allonemobius socius (Scudder 1877), males provide females with a hemolymph-based nuptial gift. The size of the gift depends on when copulation is terminated, which can be controlled by either sex. Here we show that more immunocompetent males provide larger nuptial gifts, increasing their reproductive potential. To address if this pattern was the consequence of sexual selection for an honest signal (i.e., females assess mate immune quality through the hemolymph), we examined which sex controlled gift size. We found that the probability that males initiated the end of copulation increased when gift size was small (stereotypical of less immunocompetent males). Thus, early termination of copulation was the consequence of male behavior, suggesting that the association between immunocompetence and gift size was not due to sexual selection, but to natural selection for male vigor.
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U2 - 10.1139/z05-095
DO - 10.1139/z05-095
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:27744580647
SN - 0008-4301
VL - 83
SP - 1012
EP - 1014
JO - Canadian Journal of Zoology
JF - Canadian Journal of Zoology
IS - 7
ER -