Impact of low sperm competition on male reproductive trait allometries in a bush-cricket

Winkler L, Kirch LM, Reinhold K, Ramm SA (2019)
BMC Evolutionary Biology 19(1): 185.

Zeitschriftenaufsatz | Veröffentlicht | Englisch
 
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Winkler, Lennart; Kirch, Leon M.; Reinhold, KlausUniBi; Ramm, Steven A.UniBi
Abstract / Bemerkung
Background Studying reproductive trait allometries can help to understand optimal male investment strategies under sexual selection. In promiscuous mating systems, studies across several taxa suggest that testes allometry is usually positive, presumably due to strong selection on sperm numbers through intense sperm competition. Here, we investigated testes allometry in a bush-cricket species, Metaplastes ornatus, in which females mate promiscuously, but where sperm removal behaviour by males likely drastically reduces realised sperm competition level. Results As hypothesised, we found evidence for negative testes allometry and hence a fundamentally different male investment strategy compared to species under intense sperm competition. In addition, the mean relative testes size of M. ornatus was small compared to other species of bush-crickets. Surprisingly, the spermatophore gland, a potential alternative trait that males could invest in instead of testes, also did not show positive allometry, but was approximately isometric. We further observed the expected pattern of negative allometry for the male morphological structure responsible for sperm removal in this species, the subgenital plate, supporting the one-size-fits-all hypothesis for intromittent genitalia. Conclusion Our findings suggest that the evolution of sperm removal behaviour in M. ornatus was a key adaptation for avoiding sperm competition, with important consequences for reproductive trait allometries. Nevertheless, they also imply that it does not pay for larger males to invest disproportionately in nuptial gift production in this species.
Stichworte
Allometry Sexual selection Sperm competition Testes Sperm removal Spermatophore gland Subgenital plate One-size-fits-all hypothesis
Erscheinungsjahr
2019
Zeitschriftentitel
BMC Evolutionary Biology
Band
19
Ausgabe
1
Art.-Nr.
185
ISSN
1471-2148
eISSN
1471-2148
Finanzierungs-Informationen
Open-Access-Publikationskosten wurden durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft und die Universität Bielefeld gefördert.
Page URI
https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/record/2937830

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Winkler L, Kirch LM, Reinhold K, Ramm SA. Impact of low sperm competition on male reproductive trait allometries in a bush-cricket. BMC Evolutionary Biology. 2019;19(1): 185.
Winkler, L., Kirch, L. M., Reinhold, K., & Ramm, S. A. (2019). Impact of low sperm competition on male reproductive trait allometries in a bush-cricket. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 19(1), 185. doi:10.1186/s12862-019-1514-0
Winkler, Lennart, Kirch, Leon M., Reinhold, Klaus, and Ramm, Steven A. 2019. “Impact of low sperm competition on male reproductive trait allometries in a bush-cricket”. BMC Evolutionary Biology 19 (1): 185.
Winkler, L., Kirch, L. M., Reinhold, K., and Ramm, S. A. (2019). Impact of low sperm competition on male reproductive trait allometries in a bush-cricket. BMC Evolutionary Biology 19:185.
Winkler, L., et al., 2019. Impact of low sperm competition on male reproductive trait allometries in a bush-cricket. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 19(1): 185.
L. Winkler, et al., “Impact of low sperm competition on male reproductive trait allometries in a bush-cricket”, BMC Evolutionary Biology, vol. 19, 2019, : 185.
Winkler, L., Kirch, L.M., Reinhold, K., Ramm, S.A.: Impact of low sperm competition on male reproductive trait allometries in a bush-cricket. BMC Evolutionary Biology. 19, : 185 (2019).
Winkler, Lennart, Kirch, Leon M., Reinhold, Klaus, and Ramm, Steven A. “Impact of low sperm competition on male reproductive trait allometries in a bush-cricket”. BMC Evolutionary Biology 19.1 (2019): 185.
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2019-10-15T05:47:52Z
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