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Sexy faces in a male paper wasp
- Source :
- Repositório Institucional da USP (Biblioteca Digital da Produção Intelectual), Universidade de São Paulo (USP), instacron:USP, PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 5, p e98172 (2014), PLoS ONE
- Publication Year :
- 2014
-
Abstract
- Sexually selected signals are common in many animals, though little reported in social insects. We investigated the occurrence of male visual signals mediating the dominance relationships among males and female choice of sexual partner in the paper wasp Polistes simillimus. Males have three conspicuous, variable and sexually dimorphic traits: black pigmentation on the head, a pair of yellow abdominal spots and body size differences. By conducting behavioral assays, we found that none of the three visual traits are associated with male-male dominance relationship. However, males with higher proportion of black facial pigmentation and bigger yellow abdominal spots are more likely chosen as sexual partners. Also, after experimentally manipulating the proportion of black pigment on males' face, we found that females may evaluate male facial coloration during the choice of a sexual partner. Thus, the black pigmentation on P. simillimus male's head appears to play a role as a sexually selected visual signal. We suggest that sexual selection is a common force in Polistes and we highlight the importance of this group as a model for the study of visual communication in insects.
- Subjects :
- Male
Sexual partner
Sexual Selection
Evolutionary Processes
Science
Wasps
Zoology
Research and Analysis Methods
Behavioral Ecology
Sexual Behavior, Animal
Model Organisms
Natural Selection
Animals
Body Size
Animal communication
Social Behavior
Paper wasp
Evolutionary Biology
Sex Characteristics
Multidisciplinary
CARACTERÍSTICAS SEXUAIS ANIMAL
Ecology
Animal Behavior
biology
Pigmentation
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Biology and Life Sciences
biology.organism_classification
Animal Communication
Sexual dimorphism
Mate choice
Sexual selection
Medicine
Female
Polistes
Entomology
Research Article
Sex characteristics
Subjects
Details
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Repositório Institucional da USP (Biblioteca Digital da Produção Intelectual), Universidade de São Paulo (USP), instacron:USP, PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 5, p e98172 (2014), PLoS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....43a0a209e560b622c43f02ccf8c2e0c8