Data from: Condition dependence of female choosiness in a field cricket

Females generally choose mates that produce the loudest, brightest or most elaborate sexual displays, and these costly male displays are predicted to be condition dependent. However, mate choice itself is a costly behaviour also expected to be condition dependent. Male fall field crickets, Gryllus pennsylvanicus, produce a conspicuous long-distance calling song that attracts females and is condition dependent. In this study, we tested the condition dependence of female preferences (preference function and choosiness) for male calling effort in G. pennsylvanicus. We manipulated female condition by raising crickets from hatching on either a low- or high-quality diet. In a series of two-speaker phonotaxis trials, both low- and high-condition females preferred playbacks reflecting greater calling effort. However, relative to low-condition females, high-condition females took significantly longer to make a choice, were more likely to fail to choose within the time allotted for a phonotaxis trial and significantly increased their latency to choose over the course of multiple trials. We discuss these results with respect to the possibility that female G. pennsylvanicus may be foraging for direct benefits when they choose their mates.

雌性通常会选择能发出最响亮、最艳丽或最精致的性展示的雄性，而这类高成本的雄性性展示被预测为具有状态依赖性。然而，配偶选择本身亦是一种高成本行为，同样被认为具有状态依赖性。雄性宾夕法尼亚草蟋（Gryllus pennsylvanicus）可发出醒目的长距离求鸣曲以吸引雌性，且该鸣曲的产生具有状态依赖性。本研究以该物种为对象，检验了雌性对雄性求鸣投入的偏好（包含偏好函数与择偶挑剔度）的状态依赖性。研究人员通过从孵化阶段起分别饲喂低质量与高质量饲料的方式，操控雌性的个体状态。在一系列双扬声器趋音行为实验中，无论状态较低还是较高的雌性，均更偏好鸣曲投入更高的回放信号。然而相较于状态较低的雌性，状态较高的雌性做出选择的耗时显著更长，更有可能在趋音实验规定的时限内未完成选择，且在多次实验过程中，其选择潜伏期显著升高。本研究就宾夕法尼亚草蟋雌性在配偶选择过程中可能通过择偶获取直接收益这一可能性，对实验结果展开了讨论。