We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
Insects perceive local sex ratio in the absence of tactile or visual sex-specific cues.
- Authors
Han, Chang; Kang, Chang-Ku; Shin, Hong-Sup; Lee, Jeong-Hyun; Bae, Mi-Rye; Lee, Sang-Im; Jablonski, Piotr
- 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.
- Subjects
INSECT sex ratio; TACTILE adaptation; WATER striders; SEXUAL behavior in insects; INSECT breeding; SEX recognition (Zoology); HABITATS
- Publication
Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology, 2012, Vol 66, Issue 9, p1285
- ISSN
0340-5443
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00265-012-1382-8