| Full text | |
| Author(s): |
Guillermo-Ferreira, Rhainer
[1, 2, 3, 4]
;
Gorb, Stanislav N.
[2]
;
Appel, Esther
[2]
;
Kovalev, Alexander
[2]
;
Bispo, Pitagoras C.
[4]
Total Authors: 5
|
| Affiliation: | [1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Biol, Sao Paulo - Brazil
[2] Univ Kiel, Inst Zool, Dept Funct Morphol & Biomech, D-24098 Kiel - Germany
[3] Fed Univ Grande Dourados UFGD, Dept Biol & Environm Sci, BR-79804970 Dourados, MS - Brazil
[4] Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Dept Biol Sci, Sao Paulo - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 4
|
| Document type: | Journal article |
| Source: | NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN; v. 102, n. 3-4 APR 2015. |
| Web of Science Citations: | 8 |
| Abstract | |
Wing pigmentation is a trait that predicts the outcome of male contests in some damselflies. Thus, it is reasonable to suppose that males would have the ability to assess wing pigmentation and adjust investment in a fight according to the costs that the rival may potentially impose. Males of the damselfly Mnesarete pudica exhibit red-coloured wings and complex courtship behaviour and engage in striking male-male fights. In this study, we investigated male assessment behaviour during aerial contests. Theory suggests that the relationship between male resource-holding potential (RHP) and contest duration describes the kind of assessment adopted by males: self-assessment, opponent-only assessment or mutual assessment. A recent theory also suggests that weak and strong males exhibit variations in the assessment strategies adopted. We estimated male RHP through male body size and wing colouration (i.e. pigmentation, wing reflectance spectra and transmission spectra) and studied the relationship between male RHP and contest duration from video-documented behavioural observations of naturally occurring individual contests in the field. The results showed that males with more opaque wings and larger red spots were more likely to win contests. The relationships between RHP and contest durations partly supported the self-assessment and the mutual assessment models. We then experimentally augmented the pigmented area of the wings, in order to evaluate whether strong and weak males assess rivals' RHP through wing pigmentation. Our experimental manipulation, however, clearly demonstrated that strong males assess rivals' wing pigmentation. We finally suggest that there is a variation in the assessment strategy adopted by males. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 13/00406-7 - Evolution of the interaction between morphological and behavioral characters in Odonata of the neotropical region |
| Grantee: | Rhainer Guillermo Nascimento Ferreira |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral |
| FAPESP's process: | 12/21196-8 - Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (Insecta): reducing Linnean, Wallacean and Henningian deficits |
| Grantee: | Pitágoras da Conceição Bispo |
| Support Opportunities: | Regular Research Grants |