| 11. |
- Berger, David, et al.
(författare)
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Ecological Constraints on Female Fitness in a Phytophagous Insect
- 2012
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Ingår i: American Naturalist. - : University of Chicago Press. - 0003-0147 .- 1537-5323. ; 180:4, s. 464-480
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although understanding female reproduction is crucial for population demography, determining how and to what relative extent it is constrained by different ecological factors is complicated by difficulties in studying the links between individual behavior, life history, and fitness in nature. We present data on females in a natural population of the butterfly Leptidea sinapis. These data were combined with climate records and laboratory estimates of life-history parameters to predict the relative impact of different ecological constraints on female fitness in the wild. Using simulation models, we partitioned effects of male courtship, host plant availability, and temperature on female fitness. Results of these models indicate that temperature is the most constraining factor on female fitness, followed by host plant availability; the short-term negative effects of male courtship that were detected in the field study were less important in models predicting female reproductive success over the entire life span. In the simulations, females with more reproductive reserves were more limited by the ecological variables. Reproductive physiology and egg-laying behavior were therefore predicted to be co-optimized but reach different optima for females of different body sizes; this prediction is supported by the empirical data. This study thus highlights the need for studying behavioral and life-history variation in orchestration to achieve a more complete picture of both demographic and evolutionary processes in naturally variable and unpredictable environments.
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| 12. |
- Berger, David, et al.
(författare)
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Intraspecific variation in body size and the rate of reproduction in female insects- adaptive allometry or biophysical constraint?
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of Animal Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0021-8790 .- 1365-2656. ; 81:6, s. 1244-1258
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1. A high rate of reproduction may be costly if ecological factors limit immediate reproductive output as a fast metabolism compromises own future survival. Individuals with more reserves need more time and opportunity to realize their reproductive potential. Theory therefore predicts that the reproductive rate, defined as the investment in early reproduction in proportion to total potential, should decrease with body size within species. 2. However, metabolic constraints on body size- and temperature-dependent biological rates may impede biophysical adaptation. Furthermore, the sequential manner resources that are allocated to somatic vs. reproductive tissue during ontogeny may, when juveniles develop in unpredictable environments, further contribute to non-adaptive variation in adult reproductive rates. 3. With a model on female egg laying in insects, we demonstrate how variation in body reserves is predicted to affect reproductive rate under different ecological scenarios. Small females always have higher reproductive rates but shorter lifespans. However, incorporation of female host selectivity leads to more similar reproductive rates among female size classes, and oviposition behaviour is predicted to co-evolve with reproductive rate, resulting in small females being more selective in their choice and gaining relatively more from it. 4. We fed simulations with data on the butterfly Pararge aegeria to compare model predictions with reproductive rates of wild butterflies. However, simulated reproductive allometry was a poor predictor of that observed. Instead, reproductive rates were better explained as a product of metabolic constraints on rates of egg maturation, and an empirically derived positive allometry between reproductive potential and size. However, fitness is insensitive to moderate deviations in reproductive rate when oviposition behaviour is allowed to co-evolve in the simulations, suggesting that behavioural compensation may mitigate putative metabolic and developmental constraints. 5. More work is needed to understand how physiology and development together with compensatory behaviours interact in shaping reproductive allometry. Empirical studies should evaluate adaptive hypotheses against proper null hypotheses, including prediction from metabolic theory, preferentially by studying reproductive physiology in combination with behaviour. Conversely, inferences of constraint explanations on reproductive rates must take into consideration that adaptive scenarios may predict similar allometric exponents.
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| 13. |
- Bergman, Martin, et al.
(författare)
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Contest outcome in a territorial butterfly : the role of motivation
- 2010
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 277:1696, s. 3027-3033
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In many butterfly species, males compete over areas advantageous for encountering females. Rules for contest settlement are, however, largely unknown and neither morphological nor physiological traits can reliably predict the contest outcome. Here, we test the hypothesis that contests are settled in accordance with a motivation asymmetry. We staged contests between males of Pararge aegeria and after removing the resident, the non-resident was allowed (i) either to interact with a non-receptive female for 30 min (n = 30) or (ii) to spend 30 min alone in the cage (n = 30), after which the initial resident was reintroduced. The results show that males that had interacted with a female had a higher probability of becoming dominant and reversing contest outcome. Moreover, males that were faster to take over a vacant territory when the resident was removed were more likely to become dominant. Here, we show for the first time, to our knowledge, that frequent encounters with a mated female can increase male motivation to persist in a territorial contest in a butterfly. Further, we suggest that variation in intrinsic motivation reflects male eagerness to take over vacant territory. This study indicates that variation in resource value and motivational asymmetries are important for settling contests in butterflies.
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| 14. |
- Bergman, Martin, et al.
(författare)
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Differences in mate location behaviours between residents and nonresidents in a territorial butterfly
- 2009
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Ingår i: Animal Behaviour. - London, England : ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD. - 0003-3472 .- 1095-8282. ; 78:5, s. 1161-1167
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mate location strategies vary between species. Among butterflies two strategies are recognized: 'patrolling' males spend their life on the wing searching for females and 'perching' males stay at a specific site waiting to intercept passing females. In the speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria, two alternative male strategies have been described: dominant males adopt a perching strategy monopolizing large sunspots on the forest floor, and subdominant males adopt a patrolling strategy. However, comparative analyses have shown that body design differs between perching and patrolling species, hence constraining opportunity for within-species variation in mate location strategy. We tested whether males differ in their propensity to adopt perching or patrolling behaviour by recording time spent flying during 30 min when alone in a large cage with only one large sunspot and many smaller ones, and whether subdominant males adopt a patrolling strategy by allowing dyads of males to interact in the cage for 60 min and recording the same behaviours again. All males adopted perching behaviour when alone, and subdominant males in dyads spent only a short time in extended flights after losing contests over territory ownership, soon returning to a perching strategy and making the best of a bad job from the vantage point of a small sunspot. We argue that previous descriptions of subdominant male P. aegeria adopting a patrolling strategy are based on too short observation periods, and have mistaken males in temporary transit for males adopting patrolling behaviour.
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| 15. |
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| 16. |
- Bergman, Martin, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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Mate acquisition by females in a butterfly : the effects of mating status and age on female mate-locating behaviour
- 2011
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Ingår i: Animal Behaviour. - : Elsevier BV. - 0003-3472 .- 1095-8282. ; 81:1, s. 225-229
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In most species, female reproductive success is determined by realized fecundity, which depends on the amount of female reproductive reserves and the availability of time for oviposition. Consequently, selection is likely to favour behaviour in virgin females that increases the likelihood of encountering males and thereby minimizing time without sperm. We used the speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria, to test the hypothesis that virgin females increase the probability of encountering males by behaving more conspicuously. We also tested for an effect of age on behaviour, with the prediction that females behave more conspicuously if they remain unmated for a longer period. To do this we conducted controlled behavioural studies in large outdoor cages, comparing the behaviour of young and old, virgin and mated, females. We also assessed the time it took for a male to discover virgin versus mated females. Our results show an effect of age and mating status: old virgin females behaved more conspicuously than young virgin females and mated females, and spent more time in flight and performed more individual flights. Males also discovered virgin females faster than mated females. Furthermore, virgin females did not specifically locate the large sunspot, where perching males are found. Hence, females of P. aegeria adjust their behaviour in accordance with mating status and age, making them more likely to encounter a male and thereby maximize their reproductive success. This study underlines the importance of taking the distribution and behaviour of receptive females into account when studying mate-locating behaviour.
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| 17. |
- Bergman, Martin, et al.
(författare)
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Mating success of resident versus non-resident males in a territorial butterfly
- 2007
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 274:1618, s. 1659-1665
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Male–male competition over territorial ownership suggests that winning is associated with considerable benefits. In the speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria, males fight over sunspot territories on the forest floor; winners gain sole residency of a sunspot, whereas losers patrol the forest in search of females. It is currently not known whether residents experience greater mating success than nonresidents, or whether mating success is contingent on environmental conditions. Here we performed an experiment in which virgin females of P. aegeria were allowed to choose between a resident and a nonresident male in a large enclosure containing one territorial sunspot. Resident males achieved approximately twice as many matings as non-residents, primarily because matings were most often preceded by a female being discovered when flying through a sunspot. There was no evidence that territorial residents were more attractive per se, with females seen to reject them as often as nonresidents. Furthermore, in the cases where females were discovered outside of the sunspot, they were just as likely to mate with non-residents as residents. We hypothesize that the proximate advantage of territory ownership is that light conditions in a large sunspot greatly increase the male’s ability to detect and intercept passing receptive females.
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| 18. |
- Bergman, Martin, et al.
(författare)
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Territorialitet hos dagfjärilar
- 2011
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Ingår i: Fauna & Flora. ; 106:1, s. 20-25
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Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)
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| 19. |
- Bergman, Martin, 1981-
(författare)
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The evolution of territoriality in butterflies
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Competition over mating opportunities is a conspicuous characteristic of animal behaviour. In many butterfly species the males establish territories in places advantageous for encountering females. This thesis addresses questions about how territoriality has evolved and is maintained in butterflies. The studies have been conducted using the speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria, as a model species. Males of P. aegeria are found in sunspots on the forest floor (paper I-V), on the lookout for females visiting the sunspots. However, males are only found in sunspots above a certain size (paper III). This behavior is maintained by a mating success advantage, where using large sunspots instead of small sunspots as perching areas generates a higher reproductive output (paper I). The mating success asymmetry is not explained by female choice or by a female preference for large sunspots per se (paper I, V), but rather the large sunspot facilitates visual performance of perching males and improves flight pursuit and interception of females (paper III). Winners of territorial contests gain sole ownership of large sunspot territories, while losers search for a new suitable sunspot territory (paper I, II & IV) or use smaller, suboptimal sunspots as perching sites (paper II). Territorial contests between P. aegeria males are not settled due to an obvious morphological/physiological asymmetry (paper I). Rather, variation in resource value and motivational asymmetries are important for settling contests (paper IV). A majority of male-female interactions (paper V) and matings (paper I) are initiated by a perching male detecting and intercepting a flying female. Furthermore, females can affect their chances of being detected by a perching male by behaving more conspicuously (paper V). This thesis highlights the role of female behaviour, variation in resource value and motivation asymmetries to understand the evolution of territoriality in butterflies.
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| 20. |
- Bergman, Martin, et al.
(författare)
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Visual mate detection and mate flight pursuit in relation to sunspot size in a woodland territorial butterfly
- 2009
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Ingår i: Animal Behaviour. - London, England : ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LT. - 0003-3472 .- 1095-8282. ; 78:1, s. 17-23
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Territory residency is associated with considerable benefits. In the speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria, males fight over ownership of large sunspots in open forest habitats; winners become sunspot residents, and losers become nonterritorial and sit and wait for females in small sunspots. A previous study has shown that residents have higher mating success than nonterritorial males, although females are not more attracted to territorial males or sunspot territories per se. Here we tested the hypotheses (1) that the higher success of resident males is caused by visual mate detection being more efficient in a large than in a small sunspot, and (2) that only sunspots above a certain size are defended as territories. Field assessment of territorial sunspot size showed that defended sunspots were significantly larger than 'average sunspots' on the forest floor. Experimental tests of male ability to detect visually a model butterfly passing through a sunspot showed that males were more successful in pursuing and intercepting a passing model when. own a longer distance in the sunspot. Hence, we conclude that light conditions and associated visual mate detection and ability to complete mate flight pursuit can explain why P. aegeria males defend territories in large sunspots in forest habitats.
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