TY - JOUR
T1 - Stepping off the pasture
T2 - Evidence of widespread alternative male mating tactics in the yellow dung fly
AU - Gress, Brian E.
AU - Starmer, William T.
AU - Virgen, Maria A.
AU - Agu, Abuchi
AU - Attila, Kossi A.
AU - Bazluke, Elizabeth E.
AU - Chubb, Lindsey A.
AU - Durantini, Alexandra G.
AU - Goldsmith, Jake
AU - Hui, Benjamin M.
AU - Karimova, Malika
AU - Macey, Erika S.
AU - Macri, Michael R.
AU - Mongeon, Emily N.
AU - Monka, Neal J.
AU - Pence, Jennifer M.
AU - Perdomo, Sebastian T.
AU - Pratt, Julia M.
AU - Ruda, Danielle E.
AU - Szkodzinski, Joanna B.
AU - Williamson, Nicole A.
AU - Pitnick, Scott S
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Geoff Parker's investigations of the yellow dung fly mating system revitalized interest in sexual selection theory, sparked development of sperm competition and sexual conflict theories, and stimulated use of this species as an important model system. Numerous studies across widespread populations have demonstrated large-male advantages in competition contests occurring on dung in cow pastures; however, recent work suggests that smaller males adopt an alternative mating tactic by avoiding dung and instead copulating with females at foraging sites. Though this finding has the potential to expand our understanding of sexual selection in yellow dung flies, such behavior has to date been documented at only one field site, raising the possibility that this phenomenon is highly localized. Here, we report the expression of size-dependent alternative mating tactics across three discrete populations. These findings provide a cautionary tale for researchers limiting their attention to aggregation sites where study organisms are most conveniently encountered.
AB - Geoff Parker's investigations of the yellow dung fly mating system revitalized interest in sexual selection theory, sparked development of sperm competition and sexual conflict theories, and stimulated use of this species as an important model system. Numerous studies across widespread populations have demonstrated large-male advantages in competition contests occurring on dung in cow pastures; however, recent work suggests that smaller males adopt an alternative mating tactic by avoiding dung and instead copulating with females at foraging sites. Though this finding has the potential to expand our understanding of sexual selection in yellow dung flies, such behavior has to date been documented at only one field site, raising the possibility that this phenomenon is highly localized. Here, we report the expression of size-dependent alternative mating tactics across three discrete populations. These findings provide a cautionary tale for researchers limiting their attention to aggregation sites where study organisms are most conveniently encountered.
KW - Alternative mating tactics
KW - Male size
KW - Scathophaga stercoraria
KW - Sexual selection
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84959501742&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84959501742&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1163/1568539X-00003331
DO - 10.1163/1568539X-00003331
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84959501742
SN - 0005-7959
VL - 153
SP - 143
EP - 157
JO - Behaviour
JF - Behaviour
IS - 2
ER -