Interplay between paternal care and sexual selection in harvestmen

• Grant number: 15/10448-4
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: September 01, 2015
• End date: August 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Animal Behavior
• Principal Investigator: Glauco Machado
• Grantee: Glauco Machado
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Gustavo Requena Santos

Abstract

Understanding the causes of variation in mating success and other fitness-related measures is a fundamental goal of sexual selection studies. In species exhibiting exclusive male care, the expected quality of paternal behavior can influence female mating decisions and thus determine male mating success. In arthropods, for instance, female preference for parental individuals may have favored the evolution and maintenance of paternal care. In this project, we will study the interplay between paternal care and sexual selection using harvestmen as model organisms. The project will be divided into four subprojects. In the first two subprojects, we will explore the role of body condition for male attractiveness and mating success. These two subprojects will use complementary approaches, including field experiments with the harvestman Iporangaia pustulosa and computational simulations to test two hypotheses: (1) males in good body condition acquire a first clutch faster than males in poor body condition; (2) males that receive food regularly during the caring period sustain good conditions and accumulate more eggs when compared with parental males deprived from food. In the third subproject, we will investigate the effects of copulatory and post-copulatory courtship on male reproductive success in the harvestman Magnispina neptunus. We will experimentally manipulate courtship effort and the presence of eggs under males' protection to evaluate: (1) their chances of acquiring eggs, (2) how fast they successfully obtain eggs, and (3) how many eggs they receive. In the fourth subproject, we will investigate male mate choice in the harvestman Poassa limbata, a species exhibiting sex role reversal. Using detailed field observations, we will test the following hypotheses: (1) males prefer to mate with large females, in good body condition, and with eggs ready to oviposit; (2) males reject potential sexual partners when sperm depleted; (3) males prefer to mate with females that are frequent sexual partners in order to avoid sperm competition. The results obtained in these four subprojects will shed light on the criteria used by females and males to select mates in species with exclusive male care. This is an important empirical contribution not only for harvestmen, but also for all groups in which paternal care is widespread, including other arthropods, fishes, and amphibians. (AU)

Scientific publications

(14)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MUNIZ, DANILO G.; SANTOS, EDUARDO S. A.; GUIMARAES, JR., PAULO R.; NAKAGAWA, SHINICHI; MACHADO, GLAUCO. A multinomial network method for the analysis of mate choice and assortative mating in spatially structured populations. METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, v. 8, n. 10, p. 1321-1331, OCT 2017. (13/13632-5, 12/50229-1, 15/10448-4, 12/20468-4)

SOLANO-BRENES, DIEGO; GARCIA-HERNANDEZ, SOLIMARY; MACHADO, GLAUCO. All the better to bite you with! Striking intrasexual differences in cheliceral size define two male morphs in an Amazonian arachnid. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, v. 125, n. 3, p. 521-534, NOV 2018. (15/10448-4, 17/05283-1)

QUESADA-HIDALGO, ROSANNETTE; SOLANO-BRENES, DIEGO; REQUENA, GUSTAVO S.; MACHADO, GLAUCO. The good fathers: efficiency of male care and the protective role of foster parents in a Neotropical arachnid. ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR, v. 150, p. 147-155, APR 2019. (14/21790-2, 15/10448-4)

GARCIA-HERNANDEZ, SOLIMARY; MACHADO, GLAUCO. Convergent fighting behavior in two species of Neotropical harvestmen (Opiliones): insights on the evolution of maternal care and resource defense polygyny. JOURNAL OF ARACHNOLOGY, v. 46, n. 1, p. 165-169, APR 2018. (15/10448-4, 17/05283-1)

ROJAS, ANDRES; MUNIZ, DANILO G.; SOLANO-BRENES, DIEGO; MACHADO, GLAUCO. Nest-site selection in a neotropical arachnid with exclusive male care: Proximate cues and adaptive meaning. Ethology, v. 127, n. 4, JAN 2021. (19/12816-1, 15/10448-4, 15/22514-1)

ROJAS, ANDRES; SOLANO-BRENES, DIEGO; MUNIZ, DANILO G.; MACHADO, GLAUCO. Gone with the rain: negative effects of rainfall on male reproductive success in a nest-building arachnid. BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY, v. 30, n. 4, p. 1145-1156, JUL-AUG 2019. (15/22514-1, 15/10448-4)

SANTOS, EDUARDO S. A.; BUENO, PEDRO P.; GILBERT, JAMES D. J.; MACHADO, GLAUCO. Macroecology of parental care in arthropods: higher mortality risk leads to higher benefits of offspring protection in tropical climates. BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS, v. 92, n. 3, p. 1688-1701, AUG 2017. (12/50229-1, 15/10448-4, 12/20468-4, 12/10167-7)

CONSOLMAGNO, RAFAEL C.; REQUENA, GUSTAVO S.; MACHADO, GLAUCO; BRASILEIRO, CINTHIA A.. Costs and benefits of temporary egg desertion in a rocky shore frog with male-only care. BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY, v. 70, n. 5, p. 785-795, MAY 2016. (12/50229-1, 13/50741-7, 15/10448-4)

ALISSA, L. M.; MUNIZ, D. G.; MACHADO, G.. Devoted fathers or selfish lovers? Conflict between mating effort and parental care in a harem-defending arachnid. JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, v. 30, n. 1, p. 191-201, JAN 2017. (11/12795-2, 15/10448-4, 12/23022-7)

MACHADO, GLAUCO; BUZATTO, BRUNO A.; SAMIA, DIOGO S. M.. It is not always about body size: evidence of Rensch's rule in a male weapon. BIOLOGY LETTERS, v. 17, n. 6, JUN 23 2021. (15/06734-1, 15/10448-4)

MACHADO, GLAUCO; WOLFF, JONAS O.. The assassination of a hypothesis by non-critical interpretation of molecular data: A comment on Sharma et al. (2017). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, v. 129, p. 346-348, DEC 2018. (15/10448-4)

MILLAN, CRISTIANE H.; MACHADO, GLAUCO; MUNIZ, DANILO G.. Within-population variation in female mating preference affects the opportunity for sexual selection and the evolution of male traits, but things are not as simple as expected. JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, v. 33, n. 11, p. 1579-1592, NOV 2020. (15/10448-4, 15/22514-1)

MACEDO-REGO, RENATO C.; COSTA-SCHMIDT, LUIZ ERNESTO; SANTOS, EDUARDO S. A.; MACHADO, GLAUCO. Negative effects of prolonged dietary restriction on male mating effort: nuptial gifts as honest indicators of long-term male condition. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 6, FEB 24 2016. (12/50229-1, 15/10448-4, 12/20468-4)

GARCIA-HERNANDEZ, SOLIMARY; MACHADO, GLAUCO. Short- and long-term effects of an extreme case of autotomy: does ``tail{''} loss and subsequent constipation decrease the locomotor performance of male and female scorpions?. Integrative Zoology, DEC 2021. (17/05283-1, 15/10448-4)