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Behavior and Ethology Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Behavior and Ethology

Demonstrating Mate Choice Copying In Spiders Requires Further Research, R. Tucker Gilman, Kasey Fowler-Finn, Eileen A. Hebets Jan 2020

Demonstrating Mate Choice Copying In Spiders Requires Further Research, R. Tucker Gilman, Kasey Fowler-Finn, Eileen A. Hebets

Eileen Hebets Publications

Mate choice copying—when individuals learn to prefer mates or mate types that have been chosen by others—can influence trait evo-lution and speciation (Varela et al. 2018; Dion et al. 2019). Most examples of mate choice copying are from fish, birds, and mammals including humans (Varela et al. 2018). However, 2 invertebrate examples—fruit flies and wolf spiders—have been used to argue that the phenomenon may be phylogenetically widespread, and perhaps the rule rather than the exception in nature (Varela et al. 2018). Here, we revisit the evidence for mate choice copying in wolf spiders (Fowler-Finn et al. 2015) in light of …


The Fruitless Gene Influences Female Mate Preference In Drosophila, Tabashir A. Chowdhury Jul 2019

The Fruitless Gene Influences Female Mate Preference In Drosophila, Tabashir A. Chowdhury

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Species can arise as a result of reproductive barriers that prevent gene flow between diverging populations that force them to remain isolated from one another. Behavioural isolation is one of the earliest acting reproductive barriers determined by the evolution of mating preferences that prevent inter-specific matings. Several traits have been identified that contribute to behavioural isolation, but the genetic basis of interspecific female preference is yet to be determined. I used genetic mapping techniques to identify and confirm that the fruitless gene is affecting species-specific female rejection of interspecies males, contributing to the behavioural isolation between Drosophila melanogaster and D. …


The Maintenance Of Phenotypic Divergence Through Sexual Selection: An Experimental Study In Barn Swallows Hirundo Rustica, Rebecca Safran, Yoni Vortman, Brittany R. Jenkins, Joanna K. Hubbard, Matt Wilkins, Rachel J. Bradley, Arnon Lotem Jul 2016

The Maintenance Of Phenotypic Divergence Through Sexual Selection: An Experimental Study In Barn Swallows Hirundo Rustica, Rebecca Safran, Yoni Vortman, Brittany R. Jenkins, Joanna K. Hubbard, Matt Wilkins, Rachel J. Bradley, Arnon Lotem

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Previous studies have shown that sexual signals can rapidly diverge among closely related species. However, we lack experimental studies to demonstrate that differences in trait-associated reproductive performance maintain sexual trait differences between closely related populations, in support for a role of sexual selection in speciation. Populations of Northern Hemisphere distributed barn swallows Hirundo rustica are closely related, yet differ in two plumage-based traits: ventral color and length of the outermost tail feathers (streamers). Here we provide experimental evidence that manipulations of these traits result in different reproductive consequences in two subspecies of barn swallow: (H. r. erythrogaster in North …


The Complexities Of Female Mate Choice And Male Polymorphisms: Elucidating The Role Of Genetics, Age, And Mate-Choice Copying, Kasey D. Fowler-Finn, Laura Sullivan-Beckers, Amy M. Runck, Eileen A. Hebets Jan 2015

The Complexities Of Female Mate Choice And Male Polymorphisms: Elucidating The Role Of Genetics, Age, And Mate-Choice Copying, Kasey D. Fowler-Finn, Laura Sullivan-Beckers, Amy M. Runck, Eileen A. Hebets

Eileen Hebets Publications

Genetic, life history, and environmental factors dictate patterns of variation in sexual traits within and across populations, and thus the action and outcome of sexual selection. This study explores patterns of inheritance, diet, age, and mate-choice copying on the expression of male sexual signals and associated female mate choice in a phenotypically diverse group of Schizocosa wolf spiders. Focal spiders exhibit one of two male phenotypes: ‘ornamented’ males possess large black brushes on their forelegs, and ‘non-ornamented’ males possess no brushes. Using a quantitative genetics breeding design in a mixed population of ornamented/non-ornamented males, we found a strong genetic basis …