Abstract
The trade-off between flight capability and reproduction is well known in adult males of insects with wing dimorphism but the reproductive advantage of short-winged (SW) males over long-winged (LW) males appears to vary across insect taxa. In the present study, we determined the difference in the mating ability of SW and LW males of Velarifictorus ornatus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) in order to evaluate whether the SW male morph has a reproductive advantage. We found that the choice of a mate depended on the female. Compared with LW males, SW males had an obvious mating advantage when both SW and LW males courted females simultaneously, and that dealation significantly enhanced the mating ability of LW males. Losing the ability to produce songs reduced the mating advantage of SW males, thereby indicating that the greater mating advantage of SW males was related to the attractiveness of the song. In addition, the difference in the mating ability of LW and SW males was not related to body size or age. These results indicate that SW males of V. ornatus have a mating advantage over their LW counterparts because their underdeveloped flight muscles allow them to devote more resources to reproduction.
Highlights
In the phylum Arthropoda, the evolution of wings occurred uniquely in insects and it is probably one of the most important factors responsible for their success because it must have given them a great advantage over other organisms due to their increased capacity for foraging, searching for mates and new habitats, and escaping from predators (Tanaka, 1994)
We found that the SW males reach sexual maturity earlier and have a higher mating frequency, greater spermatophore weight, and higher fertilization success than LW males (Zhao et al, 2016), that is, there is a trade-off between flight capability and reproduction in males of the wing-dimorphic cricket V. ornatus (Zhao et al, 2016)
In the mating process in V. ornatus, the male attracts a female by singing after they encounter one another (Fig. 1), but SW males were preferentially chosen by females (Fig. 2)
Summary
In the phylum Arthropoda, the evolution of wings occurred uniquely in insects and it is probably one of the most important factors responsible for their success because it must have given them a great advantage over other organisms due to their increased capacity for foraging, searching for mates and new habitats, and escaping from predators (Tanaka, 1994). Despite these advantages, some species have lost their capacity for flight by reducing the size of their wings or losing them completely during the course of evolution. Substantial empirical evidence supports this hypothesis in females, where flightless females tend to have higher fecundity than those that are capable of flight (Roff, 1986; Zera & Denno, 1997; Guerra, 2011)
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