Abstract
Numerous studies have demonstrated adaptive behavioral responses of males and females to changes in operational sex ratio (the ratio of potentially receptive males to receptive females; OSR), and theory often assumes that animals have perfect instantaneous knowledge about the OSR. However, the role of sensory mechanisms in monitoring the local sex ratio by animals and whether animals can perceive local sex ratio in a manner consistent with model assumptions have not been well addressed. Here, we show that mating water striders Gerris gracilicornis respond to local sex ratio even when visual and physical contact with other individuals were experimentally prohibited. Our study shows that insects are able to estimate local population’s sex ratio and adjust their behavior based on nonvisual cues perceived at a distance or released to the habitat. Hence, the frequent theoretical assumption that individuals have knowledge about their local sex ratio regardless of their direct behavioral interactions may be an acceptable approximation of reality.
Highlights
Animals adaptively respond to changes in operational sex ratio, the ratio of potentially receptive males to receptive females (OSR; Lawrence 1986; Jablonski and Vepsalainen 1995; Vepsalainen and Savolainen 1995; Weatherhead et al 1995; Alonso-Pimentel and Papaj 1996), and theory often assumes that animals have perfect instantaneous knowledge about the OSR (Clutton-Brock and Parker 1992; Owens and Thompson 1994)
We showed that insects respond to local OSR in the absence of direct physical interactions or visual cues
While the proximate mechanism to recognize others’ sex at a distance has been reported in many insect taxa (Hardy and Shaw 1983; Peschke and Metzler 1987; Fukaya et al 1996; Tregenza and Wedell 1997; Hemptinne et al 1998; Ginzel et al 2003; Zhang et al 2003; Mutis et al 2009; Ryan and Sakaluk 2009), the mechanism to monitor OSR was unclear because previous studies have not investigated whether individuals could monitor local OSR through such sex-specific cues
Summary
The aim of this study was to determine whether the effect of OSR on mating behaviors can be observed when direct interactions between individuals and exchange of visual information are experimentally prohibited
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