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PubMed2006

No apparent indirect genetic benefits to female red flour beetles preferring males with intense copulatory courtship.

Whether females gain indirect genetic benefits through mate choice is a controversial issue since this requires additive genetic variance in the preferred male traits. Condition dependence could maintain the necessary genetic variance by linking the expression of male traits to the supposedly large number of genes affecting condition. Copulating males of the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum rub their legs along the female elytra. Females favor males with vigorous rubbing through cryptic female choice. We measured the repeatability and heritability of this behavior and assessed its potential use as indicator of viability and condition. We found genetic variance in larval to adult survival and in the rate of leg rubbing in males. However, the rate of leg rubbing was not related to offspring survival or condition dependent. The genetic variance in leg rubbing was mostly non-additive with very low narrow sense heritability. Therefore, we failed to document any indirect genetic benefits to choosy females through viability of their offspring or attractiveness of their sons.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Sex steroids and vasotocin interact in a female amphibian (Taricha granulosa) to elicit female-like egg-laying behavior or male-like courtship.

Female egg-laying behaviors and male amplectic clasping behaviors in the rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa) are similar in that animals clasp an object. In the case of egg-laying, females clasp submerged inanimate objects, whereas in amplexus, males clasp conspecific females. Considering these behavioral similarities and differences, we investigated the possibility that gonadal steroids and vasotocin (AVT) interact to control egg-laying behaviors, as has been shown for the control of amplexus in Taricha males. Intact, gravid T. granulosa females injected ip with AVT, unlike those injected with saline, exhibited egg-laying behaviors and oviposition. In ovariectomy-steroid-implant studies, no saline-injected female exhibited egg-laying behaviors, whereas AVT-injected ovariectomized females exhibited egg-laying behaviors if implanted with estradiol (E2), testosterone, or dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and not if implanted with empty capsules. When given a choice between clasping aquatic vegetation or other females (amplectic clasping), following an AVT injection, unoperated and sham-operated control females and ovariectomized females with E2 implants did not preferentially clasp aquatic vegetation over other females. In contrast, AVT-injected ovariectomized females with DHT implants preferentially clasped other females. Thus, exposure of Taricha females to estrogens or androgens appears to determine whether the AVT-induced clasping is egg-laying or amplectic clasping.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Courtship ultrasonic vocalizations in male Swiss-Webster mice: effects of hormones and sexual experience.

The effects of testosterone and its metabolites (estradiol and 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone) on male mouse ultrasonic vocalizations were investigated using Swiss-Webster mice. In the first experiment daily treatment with 50 micrograms or 200 micrograms of testosterone propionate (TP) restored ultrasonic calling in castrated sexually naive males. Treatment with 200 micrograms of dihydrotestosterone propionate (DHTP) also activated ultrasound production, but treatment with 50 micrograms of DHTP or estradiol benzoate (EB 0.5 microgram and 2 micrograms/day) failed to have a significant effect on this measure. In experiment two, the animals used had shown male sexual behavior before castration. These sexually experienced males showed a marked reduction in ultrasound production after castration but significantly increased ultrasound production after daily treatment with either TP (50 micrograms or 200 micrograms), DHTP (50 micrograms or 200 micrograms) or 2 micrograms of EB. Hormones that facilitated ultrasound calling also activated other components of male sexual behavior in this and previous studies with Swiss-Webster mice. The results indicate that hormone dose and precastration sexual experience interact to determine the effects of postcastration treatment on male vocalizations.

Animals↗