Publication details
Resource availability, mating opportunity and sexual selection intensity influence the expression of male alternative reproductive tactics
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13284 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13284 |
| Keywords | Araneae; mating; gift |
| Description | The expression of alternative reproductive tactics can be plastic and occur simultaneously depending on cues that vary spatially or temporally. For example, variation in resources and sexual selection intensity is expected to influence the pay-off of each tactic and shape the decision of which tactic to employ. Males of the nuptial gift-giving spider Pisaura mirabilis can adopt three tactics: offering a genuine prey gift, a worthless' non-nutritious gift or no gift. We hypothesized that resources and/or male body condition, and mating opportunity and sexual selection intensity, vary over the course of the mating season to shape the co-existence of alternative traits. |