Male sand crickets trade-off flight capability for reproductive potential

Flight behaviour attenuates the trade-off between flight capability and reproduction in a wing polymorphic cricket.

Flight-dimorphic insects have been used extensively to study trade-offs between energetically costly traits. Individuals may develop and maintain structures required for flight, or alternatively they may invest in reproduction. Previous experiments have not examined whether flight itself might affect investment into reproduction. As in other Gryllus species, flight-capable individuals of the wi...

Differential resource consumption obviates a potential flight–fecundity trade-off in the sand cricket (<i>Gryllus firmus</i>)

A Trade-off between Flight Capability and Reproduction in Males of a Wing-dimorphic Insect

The widespread occurrence of dispersal polymorphisms among insects is consistent with the hypothesis that fitness costs are associated with flight capability. Although trade-offs between flight capability and reproduction are well documented in the females of many wing-polymorphic insect species, the relationship between dispersal capability and reproductive success in males is poorly establish...

Immune system activation affects male sexual signal and reproductive potential in crickets

Parasite-mediated sexual selection theory posits that individuals (usually females) choose mates by assessing the expression of costly secondary sexual signals, which provide reliable indications of parasite resistance. If these signals are indeed reliable, then immune-compromised males are predicted to exhibit changes in the sexual signal that are discernable by the female. Moreover, the matin...

Male eastern bluebirds trade future ornamentation for current reproductive investment.

Life-history theory proposes that organisms must trade-off investment in current and future reproduction. Production of ornamental display is an important component of reproductive effort that has rarely been considered in tests of allocation trade-offs. Male eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) display brilliant ultraviolet-blue plumage that is correlated with mate acquisition and male competitiv...