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Condition dependence and sexual selection in a wolf spider

Moskalik, Brian
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1281458770

Abstract Details

2010, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences: Biological Sciences.
Condition dependence (CD) of animal behavior is an emerging avenue of study. Because many aspects of animal physiology and life history vary with environmental factors, a variable environment may influence phenotype expression, which may consequently be subject to sexual selection. However, under food limitation, potentially cannibalistic animals like spiders face condition-dependent trade-offs between sexual selection (mate choice) and natural selection (sexual cannibalism). This research investigated the relationship between female feeding history, mate choice, male courtship and reproductive timing in the wolf spider, Schizocosa ocreata (Lycosidae; Hentz). I tested the influence of long- and short-term food stress on female mate choice, by assessing female preference for condition dependent male visual signals – body size and sexual ornaments. Female preference for visual male traits varied as a function of feeding treatment and time post maturity. Females demonstrated different degrees and types of phenotypic selection on males, but ultimately males with relatively large ornaments were selected through mate choice. Male courtship investment also varied with female feeding treatment, as males courted female silk from well-fed, deprived and cannibalistic females differently. However, both male experience and female feeding treatment significantly impacted courtship investment, as male investment in courtship vigor in subsequent encounters depended on the type of female seen in a previous encounter. Emerging from these observations was support for differential male investment and preliminary support for male mate choice in a wolf spider. Feeding history significantly impacted spider growth and induced plastic developmental responses as females matured. Food limited females took longer to develop by adding additional instars and ultimately attained a smaller adult size. Female gonad development coincided with increased female receptivity in well-fed females, suggesting that females may be reproductively mature (able to mate) but are restricted by nutritional intake as to when to mate. Additionally, females may be limited by food abundance as it imparts restrictions on fecundity. Consequently, this may affect female reproductive timing through hormonal control and reduction of receptivity. Overall, results from these studies indicate that female feeding history can impact female development, fecundity, and the strength of sexual selection on male ornaments. However males are not ‘victims of circumstance’ as they may respond to increased sexual selection pressure by altering courtship investment and imposing male mate choice. This plasticity in female and male behaviors may contribute to the wide differences in sexual cannibalism among arachnids. This research demonstrates the complex interactions between feeding history and potential for ecogenetic feedback in a mating system with potential sexual cannibalism.
George Uetz, PhD (Committee Chair)
John Layne, PhD (Committee Member)
Eric Maurer, PhD (Committee Member)
Elke Buschbeck, PhD (Committee Member)
Ann Rypstra, PhD (Committee Member)
101 p.
Biology
Condition dependence; Sexual selection; Spider; Mate choice; Schizocosa; Life history

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Moskalik, B. (2010). Condition dependence and sexual selection in a wolf spider [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1281458770

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Moskalik, Brian. Condition dependence and sexual selection in a wolf spider. 2010. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1281458770.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Moskalik, Brian. "Condition dependence and sexual selection in a wolf spider." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1281458770

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1281458770
435
© 2010, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Condition dependence and sexual selection in a wolf spider by Brian Moskalik is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.