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Courtship
Kinds of Courtship Terms modified by Courtship Selected AbstractsCourtship in the medfly, Ceratitis capitata, includes tactile stimulation with the male's aristaeENTOMOLOGIA EXPERIMENTALIS ET APPLICATA, Issue 3 2002R. Daniel Briceño Abstract Male Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae) used their aristae to repeatedly tap the female, usually on her aristae, during the second stage of head rocking courtship. The male's antennae moved in an apparently exploratory manner earlier in head rocking. Reduced rates of copulation followed removal of male and female aristae, supporting the idea that tapping with the aristae is an important part of medfly courtship. [source] Courtship in the Zig-Zag Salamander (Plethodon dorsalis): Insights into a Transition in Pheromone-Delivery BehaviorETHOLOGY, Issue 9 2005Amy L. Picard Courtship in plethodontid salamanders includes the delivery of male courtship pheromones by two distinct modes. Within the eastern Plethodon clade of the tribe Plethodontini, members of the Plethodon cinereus species group use an ancestral ,vaccination' mode of delivery, while members of the P. glutinosus group use an olfactory delivery mode. In order to shed light on this transition in delivery mode, I observed courtship behavior in P. dorsalis, a species that is phylogenetically intermediate to the P. cinereus and P. glutinosus groups. My observations indicate that P. dorsalis also is intermediate to the P. cinereus and P. glutinosus species groups in terms of courtship behavior. The context of delivery of male courtship pheromones in P. dorsalis is similar to that of the P. cinereus species group; however, the mode of pheromone delivery in P. dorsalis is olfactory. Thus, a transition in the context of pheromone delivery underlies the more obvious change in pheromone delivery mode. I discuss these findings in terms of the evolution of courtship pheromone delivery across the eastern Plethodon clade. I also report the first observations of ,premature' spermatophore deposition by male plethodontids. [source] Relational Uncertainty and Message Production Within Courtship: Features of Date Request MessagesHUMAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH, Issue 3 2006Leanne K. Knobloch This paper theorizes about how relational uncertainty may predict features of date request messages within courtship. It reports a study in which 248 individuals role-played leaving a date request voice mail message for their partner. Relational uncertainty was negatively associated with the fluency (H1), affiliativeness (H2), relationship focus (H3), explicitness (H4), and perceived effectiveness (H5) of messages. Also as expected, relational uncertainty was negatively associated with people's perceptions of the effectiveness of their messages after covarying the judgments of independent observers (H6). Relational uncertainty continued to predict features of messages when length of romantic interest was covaried (RQ1). The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the results for understanding the link between relational uncertainty and message production. [source] AFRICA,EAST: High Stakes CourtshipAFRICA RESEARCH BULLETIN: ECONOMIC, FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL SERIES, Issue 5 2010Article first published online: 8 JUL 2010 No abstract is available for this article. [source] Brent Nelson: Holy Ambition: Rhetoric, Courtship, and Devotion in the Sermons of John DonneJOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY, Issue 2 2006Barry Spurr No abstract is available for this article. [source] Courtship and copulation, but not ejaculates, reduce the longevity of female field crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus)JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY, Issue 4 2006P. W. Bateman Abstract Females of many taxa incur fitness costs from male sexual coercion and harassment leading to mating. Although male crickets cannot force copulations on females, female Gryllus bimaculatus in this study incurred significant reductions in longevity through being exposed to different levels of male courtship. Virgin females kept in isolation had the longest life spans. Reductions in longevity applied to females in sensory contact with males (without the opportunity to mate), females that courted and mated and females that mated but with fertilization being prevented. Females also incurred significant reductions in longevity when kept with other females, which may have been due to high levels of cannibalism. Consistent with previous studies, females appeared to incur no cost to longevity from receiving sperm or seminal fluid. It is known that female G. bimaculatus benefit genetically from multiple mating. However, this benefit could possibly be offset by the negative effect that male courtship and mating behaviour has on female longevity. [source] Courtship and mating by the sandfly Phlebotomus duboscqi, a vector of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Afrotropical regionMEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2 2000D. T. Valenta Summary Courtship behaviour of males of the Afrotropical sandfly Phlebotomus duboscqi Neveu-Lemaire (Diptera: Psychodidae) involved mounting the female and clasping her ,waist' with the male coxites placed between the female's thorax and abdomen. This behaviour, which we call ,piggy-backing', was preceded by male wing beating, perhaps involving mate recognition and contact pheromones. It did not seem to be pre- or postcopulatory mate guarding. Piggy-backing was attempted by P. duboscqi males on females of other species (P. papatasi and P. perniciosus) and even on other male P. duboscqi. The majority of female P. duboscqi piggy-backed by males were already inseminated, and most of the courting did not lead to copulation. This, coupled with the presence of a mating plug (semen) in each spermatheca of inseminated females, suggests that female P. duboscqi are monogamous for at least the first gonotrophic cycle. Male courtship with piggy-backing was more intense when females could feed on a hamster than when a hamster was present but the females were denied access to the host. It is suggested that, when a hamster was available to the females, the conditions in the laboratory are similar to those in rodent holes, the natural habitat of P. duboscqi. [source] Courtship dances in the flies of the genus lispe (Diptera: Muscidae): From the fly's viewpointARCHIVES OF INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY (ELECTRONIC), Issue 1 2006Leonid Frantsevich Abstract Two predatory fly species, Lispe consanguinea Loew, 1858 and L. tentaculata DeGeer, 1776, inhabit the supralittoral zone at the shore of a fresh-water reservoir. Both species look alike and possess similar "badges," reflective concave silvery scales on the face. Flies occupy different lek habitats. Males of the first species patrol the bare wet sand on the beach just above the surf. Males of the second species reside on the more textured heaps of algae and stones. Courtship and aggressive behaviour of males was video-recorded and analysed frame by frame. Visual stimuli provided by the conspecific partner were computed in the body-fixed space of a fly observer. Males of L. consanguinea perform long pedestrian dances of pendulating circular arcs (frequency 2 s,1, median radius 2.5 cm, linear velocity 0.130 m/s). Right and left side runs are equally probable. Circular runs are interrupted by standby intervals of average duration 0.35 s. The female views the male as a target covering 2 by 2 ommatidia, moving abruptly with the angular velocity over 200 °/s in a horizontal direction down the path of about 50° till the next standpoint. Dancing is evenly distributed around the female. On the contrary, the male fixates the image of the female within the narrow front sector (median ±10°); the target in his view has 6,7 times less angular velocity and angular span of oscillations, and its image in profile overlays 6,8 by 2 ommatidia. If the female walks, the male combines tracking with voluntary circular dances. Rival males circle about one another at a distance shorter than 15 mm, but not in close contact. Males of L. tentaculata are capable of similar circular courting dances, but do so rarely. Usually they try to mount any partner immediately. In the latter species, male combat consists of fierce wrestling. Flies of both species often walk sideward and observe the partner not in front but at the side. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 62:26,42, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Agricultural Economics and Sustainable Development: A Courtship of Two Solitudes?CANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2000Invited CAES Fellows Address, June I First page of article [source] Differential roles of two major brain structures, mushroom bodies and central complex, for Drosophila male courtship behaviorDEVELOPMENTAL NEUROBIOLOGY, Issue 8 2006Takaomi Sakai Abstract Drosophila male courtship is a complex and robust behavior, the potential for which is genetically built into specific neural circuits in the central nervous system. Previous studies using male-female mosaics and the flies with defects in particular brain structures implicated the critical central regions involved in male courtship behavior. However, their acute physiological roles in courtship regulation still largely remain unknown. Using the temperature-sensitive Dynamin mutation, shibirets1, here we demonstrate the significance of two major brain structures, the mushroom bodies and the central complex, in experience-independent aspects of male courtship. We show that blocking of synaptic transmission in the mushroom body intrinsic neurons significantly delays courtship initiation and reduces the courtship activity by shortening the courtship bout length when virgin females are used as a sexual target. Interestingly, however, the same treatment affects neither initiation nor maintenance of courtship toward young males that release courtship-stimulating pheromones different from those of virgin females. In contrast, blocking of synaptic transmission in a central complex substructure, the fan-shaped body, slightly but significantly reduces courtship activity toward both virgin females and young males with little effect on courtship initiation. Taken together, our results indicate that the neuronal activity in the mushroom bodies plays an important role in responding to female-specific sex pheromones that stimulate initiation and maintenance of male courtship behavior, whereas the fan-shaped body neurons are involved in maintenance of male courtship regardless of the nature of courtship-stimulating cues. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Neurobiol, 2006 [source] Mushroom bodies are not required for courtship behavior by normal and sexually mosaic DrosophilaDEVELOPMENTAL NEUROBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2002Asami Kido Abstract To elucidate the effect of feminization of male Drosophila brain cells on courtship control, we performed a large scale screening of expression drivers that can suppress male-specific behavior with transformer gene expression. Two drivers caused essentially total courtship suppression. The expression pattern of these drivers did not show any correlation with the mushroom bodies or the antennal lobes, the regions that have been suggested to play important roles in courtship. Ablation of mushroom bodies using hydroxyurea treatment did not affect this courtship suppression. The ablation did not change either wild-type heterosexual behavior or bisexual behavior caused by transformer expression driven by the same drivers used in the previous studies to suggest the involvement of the mushroom bodies in courtship. Our results show that feminization of different nonoverlapping cells in other parts of the protocerebrum was sufficient to cause the same bisexual or suppressed-courtship phenotype. Thus, contrary to previous assumptions, the mushroom bodies are not required for the control of courtship. Present evidence supports its mediation by other distributed protocerebral regions. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Neurobiol 52: 302,311, 2002 [source] Courtship in the medfly, Ceratitis capitata, includes tactile stimulation with the male's aristaeENTOMOLOGIA EXPERIMENTALIS ET APPLICATA, Issue 3 2002R. Daniel Briceño Abstract Male Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae) used their aristae to repeatedly tap the female, usually on her aristae, during the second stage of head rocking courtship. The male's antennae moved in an apparently exploratory manner earlier in head rocking. Reduced rates of copulation followed removal of male and female aristae, supporting the idea that tapping with the aristae is an important part of medfly courtship. [source] Multi-generational effects of polybrominated diphenylethers exposure: Embryonic exposure of male American kestrels (Falco sparverius) to DE-71 alters reproductive success and behaviorsENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 8 2010Sarah C. Marteinson Abstract Polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) are additive flame-retardants that are environmentally persistent and bioaccumulative compounds of particular concern to species at high trophic levels, including predatory birds. The developmental effects of in ovo exposure to male birds at environmentally relevant levels of the PBDE technical mixture, DE-71, on reproductive success and behaviors using captive American kestrels (Falco sparverius) were determined. Males were exposed in ovo by direct maternal transfer to DE-71 and unintentionally to low concentrations of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) at three mean,±,standard error DE-71 concentrations of 288.60,±,33.35,ng/g wet weight (low-exposure), 1130.59,±,95.34,ng/g wet weight (high-exposure), or background levels of 3.01,±,0.46,ng/g wet weight (control). One year following exposure, males were paired with unexposed females. Reproductive success was lower in the high exposure pairs: 43% failed to lay eggs while all other pairs laid complete clutches; they also laid smaller clutches and produced smaller eggs with reduced fertility, parameters that were negatively correlated with paternal in ovo concentrations of all PBDEs, as well as individual congeners and HBCD. Throughout courtship, there were fewer copulations by all in ovo exposed males, fewer mate-calls made by high-exposure males, and decreasing trends in pair-bonding and nest-box behaviors across treatments that continued during brood rearing. The reductions in clutch size and fertility were associated with the reduced frequencies of male courtship behaviors, and were associated with increasing concentrations of the PBDE congeners BDE-47, -99, -100, -53, -138, and HBCD. The results of the present study confirm effects noted in the F0 generation and demonstrate that exposure to DE-71 affects multiple generations of this predatory avian species at environmentally relevant levels of exposure. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2010; 29:1740,1747. © 2010 SETAC [source] Male Performance and Body Size Affect Female Re-Mating Occurrence in the Orb-Web Spider Leucauge mariana (Araneae, Tetragnathidae)ETHOLOGY, Issue 12 2009Anita Aisenberg Females can affect male probabilities of paternity success through behavioural, morphological and/or physiological processes occurring during or after copulation. These processes under female-control include the acceptance or rejection of mating attempts by subsequent males. Leucauge mariana is an orb weaving spider that shows male mate guarding of penultimate females, male,male competition on female webs and copulatory plugs, suggesting a polyandric mating system. The aim of the present study was to ascertain whether male behaviour during courtship and copulation in L. mariana relate with female re-mating decisions. Forty-three virgin females were exposed to up to three males until they mated. In 24 cases, the copulatory plug was absent after mating and females were exposed the next day to up to three other males. Eighteen females accepted a second mating. Relatively larger females were more receptive to second matings and were more likely to copulate if the second male was smaller. Longer duration of female tapping and abdominal bobbing during courtship, and first copulations with less short insertions and more flubs, were associated with increased female acceptance to second matings. The results indicate cryptic female choice on male courtship and copulatory performance and suggest female-control over the determination of male mating success in this spider species. [source] Effects of Male Vocal Learning on Female Behavior in the Budgerigar, Melopsittacus undulatusETHOLOGY, Issue 10 2005Arla G. Hile Parrots are unusual among birds and animals in general in the extent of their ability to learn new vocalizations throughout life and irrespective of season. The budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus), a small parrot that is well suited for laboratory studies, has been the subject of numerous studies investigating the neurobiology of vocal learning. To date, few studies have focused on the function of vocal imitation by parrots. Previous work from our research group has shown that vocal imitation in budgerigars is sex-biased, as males paired with females learn vocalizations from their new mates, but not vice versa. This bias led us to hypothesize that vocal learning has a reproductive function. To test this hypothesis, we conducted two experiments. In the first experiment, we tutored males so that they could produce a call similar to one shared by a group of experimental females. The experimental females were then presented with one of the tutored males and another, equally unfamiliar, male that had not been tutored. We found that the females spent a greater proportion of time in proximity of, and made more affiliative displays toward, the tutored males. In the second experiment, seven males received small bilateral brain lesions that disrupt vocal learning. These males and an equal number of control males were then released into an aviary containing females and reproductive resources. We found that lesioned and control males were equally successful in obtaining social mates, but females mated to lesioned males were more likely to engage in extra-pair activities. These experiments indicate that a male's ability to imitate a female's call can influence the sexual behavior of the female even though lack of imitation ability does not appear to influence social pairing. We hypothesize that mate choice in budgerigars has multiple stages. Upon meeting a strange male, a female quickly assesses its ability for social acquisition of calls by the presence or absence of a call type similar to its own in its repertoire. As courtship proceeds into pair formation, the female assesses the ability of male to learn more directly by the extent of the male's perfection of imitation. [source] Population and Species Divergence of Chemical Cues that Influence Male Recognition of Females in Desmognathine SalamandersETHOLOGY, Issue 7 2003Paul Verrell Growing evidence indicates that males may be more discriminating of mating partners than often has been assumed. In the North American Ocoee dusky salamander, Desmognathus ocoee (Plethodontidae: Desmognathinae), sexual incompatibility among conspecific populations is high in encounters staged in the laboratory, at least in part because males fail to recognize ,other' females as appropriate targets for courtship. I used Y-mazes to test the hypothesis that males of D. ocoee discriminate between substrate-borne chemical cues produced by ,own' (homotypic) and ,other' (heterotypic) females. Males of four populations discriminated in favor of substrates soiled by homotypic females over clean (control) substrates (expt 1), suggesting that females produce chemical cues of sociosexual significance to males. Furthermore, males from these populations discriminated in favor of substrates soiled by homotypic females vs. substrates soiled by heterotypic females (expt 2), both conspecific and heterospecific (D. carolinensis and D. orestes). Thus, differences among populations and species in female chemical cues appear to affect the chemotactic responses of males. I suggest that, together with differences in behavioral signals and responses exhibited during courtship, differences in female chemical cues likely contribute to sexual incompatibility among populations and taxa of desmognathine salamanders. [source] Male Competition over Access to Females in a Spider with Last-Male Sperm PrecedenceETHOLOGY, Issue 5 2003Daniela Schaefer Agonistic behaviour between male cellar spiders (Pholcus phalangioides) was investigated to test whether (1) size difference determines which male achieves access to the female, (2) males are able to monopolize access to the female until egg laying and whether (3) female resource value increases before egg laying because of last-male sperm precedence. We further investigated whether (4) there is variation in time and energy spent on courtship and copulation depending on the degree of sperm competition, i.e. with or without rival present. In three experimental settings we introduced two males of either different or similar sizes, or a single male to a female. The mating units were constantly video-observed until the females produced their first egg sac. Experience, ownership and female resource value in terms of body size was controlled. Our results show that larger males achieve almost exclusive access to females. Size symmetrical settings resulted in increased fighting activity and duration but dominance did not influence mating success. If copulations were disturbed by the rival male, copulations were terminated earlier in symmetrical settings compared with asymmetrical settings. In 94.8% of trials only one copulation took place, suggesting that the copulating male successfully monopolized access to the female. Males confronted with a rival copulated longer but courted significantly shorter than lone males. Although the last male to copulate sires 88% of the offspring in P. phalangioides, neither fighting nor courtship activity increased before the female laid a batch of eggs. This suggests that males have no indication of the timing of oviposition. [source] Do Male Veiled Chameleons, Chamaeleo calyptratus, Adjust their Courtship Displays in Response to Female Reproductive Status?ETHOLOGY, Issue 6 2002Erin C. Kelso Variation in male courtship behavior may be due to inherent differences among males or may arise from males adjusting their courtship displays according to female responsiveness. Female veiled chameleons, Chamaeleo calyptratus, exhibit two distinctive suites of body coloration and behavior patterns that vary according to receptive and non-receptive stages of their reproductive cycle. We presented male chameleons with both receptive and non-receptive females, and recorded differences in their mating frequency, courtship intensity and courtship behavior patterns. As expected, males were more likely to court and attempt mating with receptive females. Although fewer males courted non-receptive females, their courtship displays were significantly longer than those directed towards receptive females. Males also adjusted the contents of their displays according to female reproductive condition. Certain behavior patterns were unique to courtship displays directed towards each class of females. Males exhibited the behavior pattern `head roll' only when paired with receptive females, and `chin rub' was displayed only during courtship of non-receptive females. We hypothesize that these differences in male courtship frequency, intensity and content reflect differences in female reproductive value. Although males may benefit from mating with both receptive and non-receptive females, the costs associated with courtship may depend on female responsiveness. Thus, males adjust their courtship tactics accordingly. [source] Evolution of Courtship Behaviour Patterns and Reproductive Isolation in the Desmognathus ochrophaeus ComplexETHOLOGY, Issue 5 2002Louise S. Mead The extent to which differences in courtship behaviour patterns act as mechanisms of reproductive isolation is critical to understanding both speciation and the evolution of these behaviour patterns. While numerous studies have investigated intraspecific and interspecific differences in courtship, fewer interpret results in a phylogenetic framework. We describe and analyse geographic variation in the courtship behaviour patterns of the Allegheny Dusky salamander (Desmognathus ochrophaeus). We then examine courtship among closely related species in the D. ochrophaeus complex in a phylogenetic context. We found that populations of D. ochrophaeus separated by extensive geographic distances show little variation in courtship behaviour patterns and are sexually compatible. This contrasts with significant levels of sexual isolation between D. ochrophaeus and other species in the complex. Mapping behaviour patterns onto a phylogeny that we generated from cytochrome b sequences indicates that two behaviour patterns present in the courtship sequence of other members in the complex have either been lost in D. ochrophaeus or gained independently in other species in the complex. Loss of these behaviour patterns may result in reproductive isolation between D. ochrophaeus and its sister taxon, D. orestes. [source] Intra- and Inter-seasonal Variation in the Socio-Spatial Behavior of Adult Male Collared Lizards, Crotaphytus collaris (Reptilia, Crotaphytidae)ETHOLOGY, Issue 1 2001Troy A. Baird When individuals maintain strong inter-seasonal philopatry to the same territories, males may be able to re-establish territory occupancy without intense intra-sexual aggression, and instead spend more time courting females early in the reproductive season. Furthermore, when some males have prior experience defending the same territories, it may be necessary for young males to exhibit higher levels of aggression because they are establishing a territory for the first time. We tested these hypotheses by examining within-season (1992 and 1997) temporal variation in the social behavior of adult male collared lizards of known age and prior territorial experience in a population where inter-season philopatry to territories is high. Contrary to expectations, the frequency of aggression exhibited by males with and without prior territorial experience did not differ. The frequency of intra-sexual aggression was higher in 1992 than in 1997, perhaps because male competitors were more abundant in 1992. Although there was an interactive effect of year, male display and patrol were low at the beginning of the reproductive season in Apr. and May, reached peaks during midseason in June, and then decreased as reproduction ended in July. The size of territories showed a similar pattern, with males defending larger areas in June. Our data support the philopatry hypothesis in that the establishment of territories occurred without high levels of aggression early in the season, perhaps because territory boundaries have been well defined by high rates of patrol and advertisement during the middle of the previous season. Inter-sexual interactions were most frequent in June rather than at the beginning of the reproductive season. Adult females are producing their second clutches and yearling females are producing their first clutches in June. The high rate of inter-sexual encounters in June supports the hypothesis that males allocate more time to courtship when females are receptive because there are more reproductively active females at this time. The temporal pattern of activities in adult Crotaphytus collaris appears to function as a compromise between competing intra- and inter-sexual social demands on males, allowing males to maximize mating opportunities as well as maintain future access to productive territories. [source] THE EFFECTS OF GENOTYPE, AGE, AND SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT ON MALE ORNAMENTATION, MATING BEHAVIOR, AND ATTRACTIVENESSEVOLUTION, Issue 11 2005Lisa K. Miller Abstract The traits thought to advertise genetic quality are often highly susceptible to environmental variation and prone to change with age. These factors may either undermine or reinforce the potential for advertisement traits to signal quality depending on the magnitude of age-dependent expression, environmental variation, and genotype-age and genotype-environment interaction. Measurements of the magnitude of these effects are thus a necessary step toward assessing the implications of age dependence and environmental variability for the evolution of signals of quality. We conducted a longitudinal study of male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) from 22 full-sibling families. Each fish was assigned at maturity to one of three treatments in order to manipulate his allocation of resources to reproduction: a control in which the male was kept alone, a courtship-only treatment in which he could see and court a female across a clear partition, and a mating treatment in which he interacted freely with a female. We measured each male's size, ornamental color patterns, courtship, attractiveness to females, and mating success at three ages. Size was influenced by treatment and age-treatment interactions, indicating that courtship and mating may impose costs on growth. Tail size and color patterns were influenced by age but not by treatment, suggesting fixed age-dependent trajectories in these advertisement traits. By contrast, display rate and attempted sneak copulation rate differed among treatments but not among ages, suggesting greater plasticity of these behavioral traits. As a result of the different patterns of variation in ornamentation and behavior, male attractiveness and mating success responded to male age, treatment, and the interaction between age and treatment. Neither age nor treatment obscured the presence of genetic variation, and the genetic relationship between male ornamentation and attractiveness remained the same among treatments. Our findings suggest that neither age-dependent variation nor environmentally induced variation in reproductive effort is likely to undermine the reliability of male signaling. [source] FEMALE SOLDIER BEETLES DISPLAY A FLEXIBLE PREFERENCE FOR SELECTIVELY FAVORED MALE PHENOTYPESEVOLUTION, Issue 5 2005Denson Kelly Mclain Abstract In Georgia (USA) the soldier beetle, Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus (Coleoptera; Cantharidae), exhibits clinal variation in the length of the spot on its elytron. This suggests that the viability of phenotypes varies by habitat. Evidence of viability selection comes from within-site changes in the spot length distribution across a breeding season. When males with spots of intermediate length became less frequent, they became disproportionately less likely to mate, consistent with either a loss of vigor among remaining males or female rejection of disfavored phenotypes. Persistent, daily courtship by males provides females with the opportunity to track changes in male phenotype frequency and to exercise choice for phenotypes favored under natural selection. A laboratory experiment in which the frequency of one spot morph (long) or the other (short) was increased from 25% to 75% over a period of 30 days revealed that females possess a flexible preference that leads them to prefer whichever spot type has become more common over time. A haploid genetic model demonstrates that a flexible female preference for the locally favored male phenotype can be selected for when different viability alleles, genetically correlated with the male trait, are favored in different habitats that are linked by gene flow. Thus, migration between different kinds of habitat patches of a metapopulation could maintain the variation in male quality. This variation favors female choice for any trait that is directly or indirectly favored by natural selection. Such choice imparts positive frequency-dependent selection that could rapidly fix traits pleiotropically linked to viability. Rapid fixation would cause differentiation between populations of colonizing species as females exercise choice for mates favored under new ecological conditions. [source] Love-making and Diplomacy: Elizabeth I and the Anjou Marriage Negotiations, c.1578,1582HISTORY, Issue 284 2001Natalie Mears The marriage negotiations between Elizabeth and Francis, duke of Anjou, have provided an important lens for exploring the nature of the Elizabethan polity. Conyers Read argued that Elizabeth deliberately exploited courtship rituals to gain ascendancy over ministers and foreign princes. Wallace MacCaffrey and Susan Doran argued that Elizabeth's commitment to the match was genuine, but that she was prevented from concluding the match because she lacked conciliar support. This article re-examines these arguments in the light of recent research on the language of courtship and archival study into the nature of the political agenda and crown-council relations. It suggests that English interest in the negotiations evolved from growing anxiety about the unresolved succession and that the relationship between Elizabeth and her councillors, especially over her marriage, was more nuanced than has been conventionally thought. Courtship rituals were adopted to express relationships between Elizabeth and her courtiers, but these reflected a revival of chivalric court culture and were not adopted as forms of political action. The article suggests that the twists and turns of the negotiations have to be seen in the context of the active role that Elizabeth took in policy-making, the personal and political issues the marriage raised and Elizabeth's own conception of how effectively an alternative (political) resolution would work. Elizabeth was shrewd enough to see that rules framed for chivalrous love-making might very aptly be applied to diplomatic purposes, and very probably for that reason she always liked to mingle an element of love-making in her diplomacy. [source] Relational Uncertainty and Message Production Within Courtship: Features of Date Request MessagesHUMAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH, Issue 3 2006Leanne K. Knobloch This paper theorizes about how relational uncertainty may predict features of date request messages within courtship. It reports a study in which 248 individuals role-played leaving a date request voice mail message for their partner. Relational uncertainty was negatively associated with the fluency (H1), affiliativeness (H2), relationship focus (H3), explicitness (H4), and perceived effectiveness (H5) of messages. Also as expected, relational uncertainty was negatively associated with people's perceptions of the effectiveness of their messages after covarying the judgments of independent observers (H6). Relational uncertainty continued to predict features of messages when length of romantic interest was covaried (RQ1). The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the results for understanding the link between relational uncertainty and message production. [source] Evaluating a Contextual Model of Responses to Relational Uncertainty Increasing EventsHUMAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH, Issue 1 2005Appraisals, Emotions, The Role of Intimacy This study formulates and tests a contextual model of communication about events that increase relational uncertainty within courtship (N = 278 participants). Intimacy is examined as a feature of the distal context, and appraisals and emotions are investigated as features of the proximal context. As expected, intimacy coincided with positively-valenced behaviors (Hypothesis 1). Appraisals also explained variance in behaviors (Hypothesis 2), especially attentional activity, relevance, obstacle, power, and legitimacy (Research Question 1). With some exceptions, emotions predicted behaviors beyond the effects of appraisals (Hypothesis 3, Research Question 2). Emotions partially mediated the association between appraisals and behaviors (Hypothesis 4), but intimacy, appraisals, and emotions were all unique predictors of behaviors (Hypothesis 5), and intimacy did not moderate the effects of appraisals or emotions on behaviors (Research Question 3). Although the pattern of covariation was consistent across the self-reported and hypothetical events, the self-reported events generated more negatively-valenced appraisals, emotions, and behaviors than the hypothetical events (Research Question 4). The discussion examines how knowledge can accumulate by assimilating features of the distal and proximal contexts. [source] REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOUR OF TWO APHIDOPHAGOUS LADYBEETLES, CHEILOMENES SEXMACULATA AND COCCINELLA TRANSVERSALISINSECT SCIENCE, Issue 2 2004OmkarArticle first published online: 28 JUN 200 Abstract, Reproductive behaviour of two aphidophagous ladybeetles, Cheilomenes sexmaculata and Coccinella transversalis was studied. A premating period of 5.0±0.5 and 11.7±0.4 days and a pre-oviposition period of 5.5±0.7 and 12.7±0.5 days was observed for C. sexmaculata and C. transversalis, respectively. Males of both the species exhibited courtship in five steps, viz. approach, watch, examine, mount and attempt. Sexually immature, recently mated and ovipositing females rejected male advances in both the species. Chemical, visual and behavioural cues probably play a role in mate recognition. Quiescent mating occurred in C. sexmaculata, whereas abdominal shakings in the form of bouts and strokes were characteristic in C. transversalis. C. sexmaculata had a relatively prolonged mating duration (133.4±z8.9 min) than C. transversalis (37.9±2.0 min), possibly due to the absence of active processes, i.e., bouts and strokes. The active processes in C. transversalis decreased with multiple matings in a day. Unmated adults of both the species mated more vigorously than the mated ones. Reproductive performance of both the species was best after multiple matings. [source] Rhinoceros behaviour: implications for captive management and conservationINTERNATIONAL ZOO YEARBOOK, Issue 1 2006M. HUTCHINS All species of rhinoceros are, to varying degrees, threatened with extinction because of poaching, habitat loss, human-rhinoceros conflict, hunting and civil unrest. Clearly the threats facing the five remaining species (Black rhinoceros Diceros bicornis, White rhinoceros Ceratotherium simum, Greater one-horned rhinoceros Rhinoceros unicornis, Javan rhinoceros Rhinoceros sondaicus and Sumatran rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) are anthropogenic. Although many disciplines are important for conservation, understanding the behaviour characteristics of a species should be considered a key component when developing wildlife-management and conservation strategies. A general overview of the behaviour of rhinoceros is presented, addressing ecology and social organization, activity and habitat use, feeding strategies, courtship and reproduction, and anti-predator behaviour. The implications of behavioural studies for successful management and husbandry of rhinoceros in captivity are discussed in sections on group size and composition, enclosure design and enrichment programmes, activity patterns, introductions, reproduction, hand-rearing, and health and stress. Finally, there is some discussion about the implications of this knowledge for in situ conservation in relation to designing protected areas, further aspects of animal health and stress, and reintroduction and translocation. A detailed understanding of rhinoceros behaviour is important for survival both in range-country protected areas and captivity, and such knowledge should be used to provide the most appropriate animal care and environments for these species. [source] Nest ornamentation by female spotless starlings in response to a male display: an experimental studyJOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2006VICENTE POLO Summary 1The use of behavioural traits by females in signalling condition has been practically ignored in evolutionary theory. However, females may also exhibit ornaments and behavioural displays, although less elaborated than those of males. 2In this study we suggest that the carrying of feathers by spotless starlings Sturnus unicolor Temminck females to decorate the nest represents an elaborated and costly behaviour that is displayed in response to a courtship male behaviour: the carrying of nest green plants. 3By experimentally increasing the amount of green plants in the nests, to give the appearance that highly attractive males defended them, we induced females to increase their feather carrying rates. 4The amount of feathers carried to the nest was correlated to female reproductive experience and laying date, two variables correlated with female body condition. These results suggests that this behaviour may work as an honest indicator of female quality. 5We conclude that male carrying plants and female carrying feathers can be viewed as two sex-specific functionally related signalling behaviours involved in mutual courtship or status signalling. [source] Almack's Assembly Rooms,A Site of Sexual PleasureJOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2002Jane Rendell This paper explores the gendering of architectural space by examining exchange rituals in spaces of courtship, such as assembly rooms, that provided places of public gathering outside the family home for making marriage arrangements. As a specific example, I take Almack's Assembly Rooms, King Street, St. James's, a place of aristocratic entertainment and leisure during the early nineteenth century. At Almack's, activities of exchange, consumption, and display were articulated in relation to courtship and marriage. Such activities were carefully controlled by the patrons whose concerns over the possible transgressions that aspects of private family life might indicate in public company, were represented as issues of the private in terms of exclusivity and intimacy, and the public in relation to display and masquerade. [source] The significance of wing pattern diversity in the Lycaenidae: mate discrimination by two recently diverged speciesJOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2002J. A. Fordyce Abstract Closely related species of lycaenid butterflies are determinable, in part, by subtle differences in wing pattern. We found that female wing patterns can act as an effective mate-recognition signal in some populations of two recently diverged species. In field experiments, we observed that males from a Lycaeides idas population and an alpine population of L. melissa preferentially initiate courtship with conspecific females. A morphometric study indicated that at least two wing pattern elements were important for distinguishing the two species: hindwing spots and orange crescent-shaped pattern elements called aurorae. We deceived male L. idas into initiating courtship with computer generated paper models of heterospecific females when these pattern elements were manipulated, indicating that the wing pattern elements that define the diversity of this group can be effective mate recognition signals. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||