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PubMed2003

Ultraviolet signals in birds are special.

Recent behavioural experiments have shown that birds use ultraviolet (UV)-reflective and fluorescent plumage as cues in mate choice. It remains controversial, however, whether such UV signals play a special role in sexual communication, or whether they are part of general plumage coloration. We use a comparative approach to test for a general association between sexual signalling and either UV-reflective or fluorescent plumage. Among the species surveyed, 72% have UV colours and there is a significant positive association between UV reflectance and courtship displays. Among parrots (Psittaciformes), 68% of surveyed species have fluorescent plumage, and again there is a strong positive association between courtship displays and fluorescence. These associations are not artefacts of the plumage used in courtship displays, being generally more 'colourful' because there is no association between display and colours lacking UV reflectance or fluorescence. Equally, these associations are not phylogenetic artefacts because all results remain unchanged when families or genera, rather than species, are used as independent data points. We also find that, in parrots, fluorescent plumage is usually found adjacent to UV-reflective plumage. Using a simple visual model to examine one parrot, the budgerigar Melopsittacus undulatus, we show that the juxtaposition of UV-reflective and fluorescent plumage leads to a 25-fold increase in chromatic contrast to the budgerigar's visual system. Taken together, these results suggest that signals based on UV contrast are of special importance in the context of active sexual displays. We review briefly six hypotheses on why this may be the case: suitability for short-range signalling; high contrast with backgrounds; invisibility to predators; exploitation of pre-existing sensory biases; advertisement of feather structure; and amplification of behavioural signals.

Animal Communication↗
PubMed1975

The mating behaviour of the tsessebe (Damaliscus lunatus lunatus) in the Kruger National Park.

The mating behaviour of tsessebe was observed in the Kruger National Park. A description of the typical sequences in the mating behaviour is given which includes the "nose and neck stretch" posture of the courtship display of the bull when approaching a cow, the role of olfactory stimuli which are derived from either smelling at the base of a cow's tail or from the ground where a cow had been laying down or urinated, the spontaneous ejaculation of the bull in response to such stimuli and mounting. Distinction is drawn between the dominance display ("nose forward-upward posture") and the courtship display of the tsessebe bull. Comparative notes on the mating behaviour of congeneric species, i.e. the blesbok (D. dorcas phillipsi), bontebok (D. d. dorcas) and topi (D. lunatus korrigum) are given. Many similarities are evident despite a number of dissimilarities. Attention is also paid to confliction interpretations of the courtship displays in the different species.

Animal Communication↗
PubMed1985

Pheromones and other semiochemicals of the acari.

In contrast to the exceptional diversity of semiochemical-regulated behavior in the insects, chemical communication in the Acari is restricted to a few limited roles. These include clustering, mate-finding processes, host- and food-finding processes, and dispersal. No evidence of pheromones regulating oviposition, necrophoric behavior, recognition of hive mates, or many other processes found in numerous insect groups has been reported in the Acari. Perhaps the most noteworthy feature of acarine pheromones or allomones is the use of the same or similar molecules by many species. Metastriate ixodids use volatile phenols to regulate courtship behavior and, in at least one species, feeding site selection and attachment as well. Argasid ticks use a water- or saline-soluble assembly pheromone, which appears to represent a single type of compound, if not the identical compound in all cases. Acarid mites use terpenoids as alarm pheromones and allomones, while certain phytoseiid and tetranychnid mites use terpene alcohols as arrestant sex pheromones. Another notable feature of acarine pheromones is the use of multicomponent signals to regulate different events in the behavioral process. Thus, two separate sex pheromones are necessary to successfully complete courtship in certain Dermacentor ticks, while three pheromones appear necessary to complete feeding-site selection, attachment, and clasping in certain Amblyomma species. In other cases, a combination of chemical and physiological signals is used to regulate courtship. Although the same or similar compounds may be used for chemical communication, no universal model describes the behavior of all species in an acarine family or order. Species-specific differences in perception of pheromone concentration, molecular composition, aphrodisiacs, and other selective signals facilitate species isolation, even though the initial steps in the behavior are similar in all species. This combination of unity and diversity allows economy in the biosynthesis of semiochemicals without compromising species integrity. In the brief period following the pioneering discoveries of pheromones in ticks (8) and mites (16, 17), evidence of a variety of acarine semiochemicals has been obtained, several pheromones and allomones have been identified, a sex pheromone gland has been described, and considerable effort has been directed to understanding the regulation of pheromone activity. Nevertheless, our knowledge of communication in this large and exceptionally diverse group is meager.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Social status interacts with badge size and neuroendocrine physiology to influence sexual behavior in male house sparrows (Passer domesticus).

Reproduction results from a complex interplay among multiple factors including social stimuli, hormones, the brain, and an individual's physical characteristics. Male house sparrows (Passer domesticus) possess a bib of black feathers, or badge, that is associated with behaviors important for reproduction including courtship behaviors, copulation, and aggression. Such behaviors are controlled by testosterone activity within the central nervous system and are strongly influenced by social status and female behavior. To understand how multiple factors interact to coordinate reproductive activity we explored relationships among social status, badge size, gonad volume, and the volumes of brain regions involved in male courtship and dominance (HVC, robust nucleus of the archistriatum, and the medial preoptic nucleus). A trend toward a U-shaped relationship was observed between dominance status and badge size, with the most dominant and most subordinate males possessing the largest badges. Male vocal expression, copulation, and aggression were positively related to dominance status, but not badge size. In contrast, the volumes of HVC, the medial preoptic nucleus and the gonads related positively to badge size, but not dominance. Females preferentially approached large-badged males regardless of dominance status, but this interest translated into copulation for dominant rather than subordinate males, a finding possibly related to the observation that dominant males vocalized at higher rates than subordinates. Subordinate males that had large badges, attracted female interest, and possessed the neuroendocrine potential to perform courtship behaviors might have been prevented from doing so through social interactions with dominant males within the flock.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Preservation of reproductive behaviors during modest cooling: rapid cold-hardening fine-tunes organismal response.

The primary objectives of this study were to determine (1) whether rapid cold-hardening (RCH) preserves reproductive behaviors during modest cooling, (2) whether increased mating success at a lower temperature comes at the cost of decreased performance at a higher temperature and (3) whether RCH is associated with an elevated metabolic rate. Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosphilidae) were rapidly cold-hardened by a 2-h exposure to 16 degrees C prior to experiments. A temperature decrease of only 7 degrees C (23 degrees C to 16 degrees C) prevented half (11/22) of the control pairs of D. melanogaster from engaging in any courtship activity. By contrast, most RCH pairs courted (17/20). Additionally, the 7 degrees C transfer prevented mating in every pair of control flies, whereas more than half (11/20) of the RCH pairs mated. There was no evidence of impaired courtship or mating performance when RCH pairs were tested at 23 degrees C. Finally, RCH is apparently not an energy-demanding process because no increase in the metabolic rate was detected during its induction. Overall, these data demonstrate that RCH serves to constantly fine-tune an insect's physiological state to match slight changes in environmental temperature. Furthermore, the RCH response is not restricted to cryoprotection and survival in the cold but also preserves more subtle behaviors, such as courtship, at moderate to high temperatures throughout the year.

Acclimatization↗
PubMed1999

Communication signals and sound production mechanisms of mormyrid electric fish.

The African weakly electric fishes Pollimyrus isidori and Pollimyrus adspersus (Mormyridae) produce elaborate acoustic displays during social communication in addition to their electric organ discharges (EODs). In this paper, we provide new data on the EODs of these sound-producing mormyrids and on the mechanisms they use to generate species-typical sounds. Although it is known that the EODs are usually species-specific and sexually dimorphic, the EODs of closely related sound-producing mormyrids have not previously been compared. The data presented demonstrate that there is a clear sexual dimorphism in the EOD waveform of P. isidori. Females have a multi-phasic EOD that is more complex than the male's biphasic EOD. In this respect, P. isidori is similar to its more thoroughly studied congener P. adspersus, which has a sexually dimorphic EOD. The new data also reveal that the EODs of these two species are distinct, thus showing for the first time that species-specificity in EODs is characteristic of these fishes, which also generate species-specific courtship sounds. The sound-generating mechanism is based on a drumming muscle coupled to the swimbladder. Transverse sections through decalcified male and female P. adspersus revealed a muscle that envelops the caudal pole of the swimbladder and that is composed of dorso-ventrally oriented fibers. The muscle is five times larger in males (14.5+/-4.4 microl, mean +/- s.d.) than in females (3.2+/-1.8 microl). The fibers are also of significantly larger diameter in males than in females. Males generate courtship sounds and females do not. The function of the swimbladder muscle was tested using behavioral experiments. Male P. adspersus normally produce acoustic courtship displays when presented with female-like electrical stimuli. However, local anesthesia of the swimbladder muscle muted males. In control trials, males continued to produce sounds after injection of either lidocaine in the trunk muscles or saline in the swimbladder muscles.

Air Sacs↗
PubMed1995

Phenotypic and molecular characterization of croaker, a new mating behavior mutant of Drosophila melanogaster.

Mating of Drosophila melanogaster is a stereotypically patterned behavior consisting of a fixed sequence of actions that is primarily under genetic control. Although courtship can be easily monitored and quantified, little is known about its neural basis. To obtain a better understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying courtship, we have isolated mutants that disrupt specific aspects of mating behavior. The croaker mutant was isolated from approximately 1,000 lines harboring single P-element insertions by screening for aberrant courtship song: croaker males often generate polycyclic pulse song while most of the song pulses are monocyclic in the wild-type. The mutant is also defective in flight. Intracellular recordings of excitatory junction potentials from larval body wall muscles and Ca++ action potentials from adult indirect flight muscles demonstrated that neuromuscular transmission and Ca++ electrogenesis in the muscle fibers are not impaired by the croaker mutation. To define the croaker gene molecularly, genomic DNA surrounding the P-element insertion site was cloned by plasmid rescue and subsequent screening of a cosmid library. Northern blotting with the genomic DNA probes detected three transcripts in the wild-type, which were not expressed in the croaker mutant.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Calcium-independent calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II in the adult Drosophila CNS enhances the training of pheromonal cues.

Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is abundant in the CNS and is crucial for cellular and behavioral plasticity. It is thought that the ability of CaMKII to autophosphorylate and become Ca2+ independent allows it to act as a molecular memory switch. We have shown previously that inhibition of Drosophila CaMKII leads to impaired performance in the courtship conditioning associative memory assay, but it was unknown whether the constitutive form of the kinase had a special role in learning. In this study, we use a tripartite transgenic system combining GAL4/UAS with the tetracycline-off system to spatially and temporally manipulate levels of Ca2+-independent CaMKII activity in Drosophila. We find an enhancement of information processing during the training period with Ca2+-independent, but not Ca2+-dependent, CaMKII. During training, control animals have a lag before active suppression of courtship begins. Animals expressing Ca2+-independent CaMKII have no lag, implying that there is a threshold level of Ca2+-independent activity that must be present to suppress courtship. This is the first demonstration, in any organism, of enhanced behavioral plasticity with overexpression of constitutively active CaMKII. Anatomical studies indicate that transgene expression in antennal lobes and extrinsic mushroom body neurons drives this behavioral enhancement. Interestingly, immediate memory was unaffected by expression of T287D CaMKII in mushroom bodies, although previous studies have shown that CaMKII activity is required in this brain region for memory formation. These results suggest that the biochemical mechanisms of CaMKII-dependent memory formation are threshold based in only a subset of neurons.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Reproductive behavior and seasonal occurrence of Psecas viridipurpureus (Salticidae, Araneae).

The reproductive behavior and the seasonal occurrence of Psecas viridipurpureus were studied at the Estação Ecológica do Noroeste Paulista, a small conservation area in the northwest region of São Paulo State, Brazil (49 degrees 22'50"W and 20 degrees 48'36"S). P. viridipurpureus occurred on "gravatá", a bromeliaceous plant (Bromelia balansae, Bromeliaceae) which does not accumulate rain water. During the courtship display the couple occupied the median region of the "gravatá" leaves, with the male always located in a higher position than the female. The males of P. viridipurpureus showed a complex courtship behavior, which included five motor patterns. The courtship and mating behavior occurred preponderantly during the rainy season and the juvenile recruitment between December and July. The retreat of P. viridipurpureus differs from the Salticidae pattern, since the egg sacs are covered with a plain silk cover and are not wrapped in cocoons.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1981

Concentrations of prolactin and luteinizing hormone in plasma of doves in relation to incubation and development of the crop gland.

The concentrations of prolactin and LH were measured in the plasma of male and female ring doves (Streptopelia risoria) during the breeding cycle. Prolactin concentrations were low during courtship and early incubation but increased markedly (P less than 0.01 in both sexes) between days 7 and 15 of incubation, during the period of rapid growth of the crop sac. Levels remained raised for 4 days after the young had hatched but then declined as the crop sacs gradually regressed. These observations showed that concentrations of prolactin were high at the time when the crop sacs were proliferating and producing 'milk' for feeding the young, but that there was no increase in prolactin secretion at the onset of incubation as occurs in ducks, hens and other birds. In samples taken from doves at various times of the day and night there was no increase in plasma prolactin during the first few days of incubation. Concentrations of LH in plasma were generally higher in male doves than in females, but in both sexes were significantly higher during courtship than during incubation and brooding the young. Concentrations increased again when the young were independent and the parents began a second round of courtship.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Effect of septal lesions on male song and aggression in the colonial zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) and the territorial field sparrow (Spizella pusilla)

The present investigation assessed the effect of lesions of the septum on male courtship and aggression in the territorial field sparrow (Spizella pusilla) and the colonial zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). In addition, pair-bonding and a variety of other social behaviors were examined in the zebra finch and dawn song (both the strictly agonistic song type and the multipurpose song type) was examined in the field sparrow. Zebra finches were tested in three phases both before and after receiving bilateral electrolytic lesions of the septum or sham surgery. These phases were: (1) competition tests in which a subject and a stimulus male were exposed to a female in an adjacent cage; (2) sexual behavior tests with a female; and (3) 10-day group cage tests in which subjects were in a mixed-sex environment. Aggressive behaviors (chases, threats, beak fences and pecks) were significantly reduced by septal lesions but not by sham surgery. Directed song (courtship) was significantly reduced in sexual behavior tests, with similar trends in other testing phases. Male field sparrows were tested 2 days pre-surgery and 2 days post-surgery in outdoor aviaries placed in their natural habitat. Tests consisted of dawn song observations and observations of courtship and aggression following introduction of a female to the subject's aviary, which was followed 10 min later by the introduction of another male (without removing the female). Septal lesions significantly facilitated both overt aggression (chases) and the number of simple (multi-purpose) songs. These results provide evidence that the septum participates in the regulation of male aggression and song in songbirds, and further suggest that variations in septal function may exist between territorial and colonial species.

Aggression↗
PubMed1999

Effect of septal lesions on male song and aggression in the colonial zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) and the territorial field sparrow (Spizella pusilla)

The present investigation assessed the effect of lesions of the septum on male courtship and aggression in the territorial field sparrow (Spizella pusilla) and the colonial zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). In addition, pair-bonding and a variety of other social behaviors were examined in the zebra finch and dawn song (both the strictly agonistic song type and the multipurpose song type) was examined in the field sparrow. Zebra finches were tested in three phases both before and after receiving bilateral electrolytic lesions of the septum or sham surgery. These phases were: (1) competition tests in which a subject and a stimulus male were exposed to a female in an adjacent cage; (2) sexual behavior tests with a female; and (3) 10-day group cage tests in which subjects were in a mixed-sex environment. Aggressive behaviors (chases, threats, beak fences and pecks) were significantly reduced by septal lesions but not by sham surgery. Directed song (courtship) was significantly reduced in sexual behavior tests, with similar trends in other testing phases. Male field sparrows were tested 2 days pre-surgery and 2 days post-surgery in outdoor aviaries placed in their natural habitat. Tests consisted of dawn song observations and observations of courtship and aggression following introduction of a female to the subject's aviary, which was followed 10 min later by the introduction of another male (without removing the female). Septal lesions significantly facilitated both overt aggression (chases) and the number of simple (multi-purpose) songs. These results provide evidence that the septum participates in the regulation of male aggression and song in songbirds, and further suggest that variations in septal function may exist between territorial and colonial species.

Aggression↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Dopamine and mushroom bodies in Drosophila: experience-dependent and -independent aspects of sexual behavior.

Depletion of dopamine in Drosophila melanogaster adult males, accomplished through systemic introduction of the tyrosine hydroxylase inhibitor 3-iodo-tyrosine, severely impaired the ability of these flies to modify their courtship responses to immature males. Mature males, when first exposed to immature males, will perform courtship rituals; the intensity and duration of this behavior rapidly diminishes with time. Dopamine is also required for normal female sexual receptivity; dopamine-depleted females show increased latency to copulation. One kilobase of 5' upstream information from the Drosophila tyrosine hydroxylase (DTH) gene, when fused to the Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase reporter and transduced into the genome of Drosophila melanogaster, is capable of directing expression of the reporter gene in the mushroom bodies, which are believed to mediate learning acquisition and memory retention in flies. Ablation of mushroom bodies by treatment of newly hatched larva with hydroxyurea resulted in the inability of treated mature adult males to cease courtship when placed with untreated immature males. However, functional mushroom bodies were not required for the dopaminergic modulation of an innate behavior, female sexual receptivity. These data suggest that dopamine acts as a signaling molecule within the mushroom bodies to mediate a simple form of learning.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Temporal and spectral properties of the songs of the southern green stink bug Nezara viridula (L.) from Slovenia.

Substrate born songs of the southern green stinkbug Nezara viridula (L.) from Slovenia were recorded and analysed. The male calling song is composed of narrow-band regularly repeated single pulses and of broad-band frequency modulated pulses grouped into pulse trains. The female calling song is characterised by broad-band pulsed and narrow-band non-pulsed pulse trains. A frequency modulated pre-pulse precedes the narrow-band pulse train. A frequency-modulated post-pulse usually follows the pulse train of the male courtship song. The male calling song triggers broad-band pulse trains of the female courtship song. The female also produces a repelling low-frequency vibration that inhibits male calling and courtship. The male rival song is characterised by prolonged pulses with a typical frequency modulation.

Animal Communication↗
PubMed1999

Broad-sense sexual selection, sex gene pool evolution, and speciation.

Studies of sexual selection have traditionally focused on explaining the extreme sexual dimorphism in male secondary sexual traits and elaborate mating behaviors displayed by males during courtship. In recent years, two aspects of sexual selection have received considerable attention in the literature: an extension of the sexual selection concept to other traits (i.e., postcopulatory behaviors, external and internal genital morphology, gametes, molecules), and alternative mechanistic explanations of the sexual selection process (i.e., coevolutionary runaway, good-genes, sexual conflicts). This article focuses on the need for an extension of sexual selection as a mechanism of change for courtship and (or) mating male characters (i.e., narrow-sense sexual selection) to all components of sexuality not necessarily related to courtship or mating (i.e., broad-sense sexual selection). We bring together evidence from a wide variety of organisms to show that sex-related genes evolve at a fast rate, and discuss the potential role of broad-sense sexual selection as an alternative to models that limit speciation to strict demographic conditions or treat it simply as an epiphenomenon of adaptive evolution.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Genetic and behavioral components of the cryptic species boundary between Laupala cerasina and L. kohalensis (Orthoptera: Gryllidae).

Cryptic species are often hypothesized on the basis of differences in courtship signals. These signal differences suggest that mate recognition systems, which include both courtship signals and responses to those signals, have diverged between genetically isolated populations. Cryptic species are therefore thought to represent distinct genetic units, the boundaries of which are maintained by premating incompatibilities, specifically by receiver preferences for conspecific signals. Laupala cerasina and L. kohalensis are sympatric species of swordtail crickets endemic to the big island of Hawaii, that are distinguishable by differences in male courtship song. We first tested whether groupings hypothesized by acoustic similarity reflect genetic groupings, using AFLP data to estimate genetic relationships. Second, we tested whether genetic boundaries are maintained by female preferences for conspecific song characteristics. Phonotaxis trials were used to determine the extent of female preferences for conspecific male song. Results generally support both hypotheses, but suggest the presence of porous species boundaries.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2002

Patterns of inheritance of mating signals in interspecific hybrids between sailfin and shortfin mollies (Poeciliidae: Poecilia: Mollienesia).

Differences in male morphology and mating behaviors are thought to confer species sexual isolation between sailfin and shortfin species of mollies. This study used interspecific crosses between the sailfin molly, P. latipinna, and the shortfin molly, P. mexicana, to investigate patterns of inheritance of morphological traits and behavioral rates of three mating behaviors in F1 hybrid males. The two parental species showed clear species differences with respect to the length of the dorsal fin and dorsal fin ray number. First generation hybrid males were intermediate between the two parental species for dorsal fin length and fin ray number, suggesting autosomal control of this trait with little effect of dominance by genes from either parental species. Parental species showed clear species differences in their rates of courtship displays. Unlike the pattern for dorsal fin morphology, F1 hybrid males showed a clear distinction in display rates with respect to the direction of the interspecific cross. Male hybrids whose sires were P. latipinna had courtship display rates that were up to three times higher than the rates of displays performed by hybrid males whose fathers were P. mexicana. The distribution of phenotypes between the parental species and that of hybrid males sired by that parental species was nearly identical. Such a pattern suggests the influence of Y-linked genes on the inheritance of courtship display rates in mollies.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Genetics of sexual behaviour in Drosophila.

The analysis of genetics of behaviour within and between species provides important clues about the forces shaping the evolution of behavioural genes. In Drosophila, a number of key processes such as emergence from the pupal case, locomotor activity, feeding, olfaction and aspects of mating behaviour are under circadian regulation. Genes controlling sexual behaviour are likely to control species specific differences in courtship that are involved in reproductive isolation of closely related species. Courtship in Drosophila is characterized by a series of stereotyped behaviours that lead to copulation and more than 30 genes have been identified through mutations that affect one or more of these elements. Although curiosity about behavioural differences between the sexes undoubtedly predates recorded history, little efforts have been made to uncover the molecular basis of male and female courtship. The brain and nervous system functions that underlie sex-specific behaviour are of obvious importance to all animals including humans. To understand behaviour related to sex it is important to distinguish those aspects that are controlled genetically. The isolation and analysis of Drosophila mutants with altered sexual orientation lead to the identification of novel branches in the sex-determination cascade, which govern the sexually dimorphic development of the nervous system.

Animals↗