Lack of costs associated with nest-related behaviors in an arachnid with exclusive paternal care

Autor(es)

Requena, Gustavo S. ; Machado, Glauco

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: OIKOS; v. 124, n. 3, p. 9-pg., 2015-03-01.

Resumo

Nest-related behaviors may benefit males by increasing offspring survival and their attractiveness to females, but may also limit males' foraging activity, increase their metabolic expenses, and expose them to increased mortality during nest attendance. Although intensively studied among birds and ectothermic vertebrates, the costs of nest-related behaviors in arthropods remain poorly explored. Females of the Neotropical harvestman Zygopachylus albomarginis (Arachnida: Opiliones) lay eggs exclusively inside mud nests that are built, repaired, cleaned and defended by males, which may remain stationary and associated with the nest for up to five months. To assess energetic and survival costs of nest-related behaviors in this arthropod species, we measured body condition of nesting and non-nesting males and conducted a field capture-mark-recapture study to estimate their survival rates. Despite the long period of nest attendance, nesting males sustained good body conditions and presented higher survival rates than non-nesting males and females. Two ecological conditions may play an important role modulating the costs of nest attendance in the species. First, high food supply in tropical rainforests may provide males with frequent access to food in the vicinity of their nests, reducing or eliminating the costs related to limited foraging opportunities. Second, predation pressure seems to be directly mostly to vagrant individuals, so that the more they move, the more likely they are to be singled out by predators. Taken together, our findings indicate that nest and offspring defense in Z. albomarginis provide numerous benefits, surprisingly imposing no evident cost to the males. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 08/50466-8 - Fatores que influenciam o sucesso reprodutivo dos machos em artrópodes com cuidado paternal
• Beneficiário: Gustavo Requena Santos
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 08/54833-5 - Fatores que influenciam o sucesso reprodutivo dos machos em opilioes (arachnida) com cuidado paternal
• Beneficiário: Glauco Machado
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular
• Processo FAPESP: 12/50229-1 - Macro-ecologia da seleção sexual: influencia do clima sobre caracteres sexualmente selecionados em uma ampla escala geográfica
• Beneficiário: Glauco Machado
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular