Year
2013
Authors
Mgr. Lenka Sentenská, Ph.D.
prof. Mgr. Stanislav Pekár, Ph.D.
prof. Mgr. Stano Pekár, Ph.D.
Species
Micaria sociabilis Kulczyński, 1897 CR
Content
Female mate choice is regarded as a strong selective force that significantly affects male mating success. In extreme cases,mate rejection can result in sexual cannibalism. However, males may choose between their partners as well. The killing of potential female mates, i.e. reversed form of sexual cannibalism, may be related to male mate choice. We examined male mate choice in the spider Micaria sociabilis, focusing on the roles of female mating status (virgin/mated), size and age. Reversed cannibalism reached its highest frequency in the period of generation overlap, i.e. when young males from the summer generation met old(er) females from the spring generation. These results suggest discrimination against old(er) females. The frequency of cannibalism was not affected by female mating status or female size. However, larger males from the summer generation were more cannibalistic than smaller males from the spring generation. We conclude that reversed sexual cannibalism might be an adaptive mate choice mechanism and can be explained in the context of the aggressive spillover hypothesis.
Citation
Sentenská L. & Pekár S. (2013): Mate with the young, kill the old: reversed sexual cannibalism and male mate choice in the spider Micaria sociabilis (Araneae: Gnaphosidae). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 67 (7): 1131–1139. DOI: 10.1007/s00265-013-1538-1.

Gallery

© Ondřej Machač
© Ondřej Machač