Mating stimulates female feeding: testing the implications for the evolution of nuptial gifts.
J Evol Biol
; 24(8): 1727-36, 2011 Aug.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-21605217
ABSTRACT
Nutritional benefits from nuptial gifts have been difficult to detect in some species, raising the question what maintains nuptial feeding when gifts do not benefit females? The sensory trap hypothesis proposes that nuptial feeding may be explained by pre-existing sensory responses that predispose females to ingest gifts. Recent studies have shown that male seminal proteins can induce a nonspecific increase in female feeding after mating, which may represent a sensory trap for nuptial feeding if it results in increased intake of post-mating gifts. I tested these ideas using female beetles that ingest a spermatophore after mating. I show that males stimulate strongly increased female feeding post-mating. However, there was little evidence for dose dependence in the feeding response that could allow males to stimulate feeding beyond the female optimum. Moreover, the post-mating feeding response could not explain nuptial feeding despite feeding more in general, newly mated females were less likely than nonmated females to ingest spermatophore gifts.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Conducta Sexual Animal
/
Escarabajos
Límite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Evol Biol
Asunto de la revista:
BIOLOGIA
Año:
2011
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Canadá