Abstract
During courtship interactions, the courted individual may not always be prepared to mate. For example, mating or courtship may be detrimental to its fitness and resistance is expected under these circumstances. As such, various resistance strategies have evolved, from physically fending off courting individuals to producing behavioural signals of unreceptivity. In the parasitoid wasp Spalangia endius, females rarely re-mate and mated females are avoided by males in favour of virgin females. Further, mated females appear to advertise their mating status by the release of a pheromone component (methyl 6-methylsalicylate), but direct evidence of the nature of this release is lacking. Here we used real-time chemical analysis to track the emission of the pheromone component during courtship interactions between virgin males and either virgin or mated females. We found that females actively release methyl 6-methylsalicylate when courted and that significantly greater concentrations are released by previously mated females. Further, high concentrations of this component are associated with both the prevention and termination of courtship.
Highlights
During courtship interactions, the courter attempts to persuade the courted individual to mate, using various displays of quality [1]
To determine whether the amount and timing of methyl 6-methylsalicylate release differed between mated females and virgin females, we carried out a repeated measures ANOVA that incorporated the different phases of the courtship interaction
There was no difference in the mean concentration of methyl 6methylsalicilate between virgin females and mated females during the pre-interaction period (F1,48 = 0.088, P = 0.7683) or during the pre-courtship period (F1,46 = 2.468, P = 0.1231), but methyl 6-methylsalicilate was significantly higher in the mated female treatment during wing-fanning (F1,36 = 11.748, P = 0.0015), mounting (F1,34 = 4.347, P = 0.0446) and postcourtship (F1,34 = 8.939, P = 0.0052; Figure 2)
Summary
The courter (typically the male) attempts to persuade the courted individual (typically the female) to mate, using various displays of quality [1]. These strategies can be costly, involving energetic expenditure by the resisting female and the potential for injury during the struggle [17] Another strategy is to produce signals of unreceptivity, which include physical behaviour and the use of pheromones (e.g. in the garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis [18], and in some insects [19]), but most of these cases are due to a previous male depositing pheromones on the surface of the female’s body (e.g. 20). It remains to be seen, how femaleproduced chemical signals of resistance are associated with the behaviour of courting males
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