Skip to main content
Log in

Experimental studies on water strider mating dynamics: spatial variation in density and sex ratio

  • Published:
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

We used field surveys, field experiments and experiments in artificial pools to study the effects of variation in sex ratio and density on mating dynamics of a stream water strider, Aquarius remigis. Our field survey documented the existence of “hot spots”, sites of higher than average total gerrid density, a male-biased sex ratio, and higher than average female mating activity. Female gerrids frequently changed sites, usually moving upstream, perhaps to spread their eggs among many sites. Male gerrids showed two movement strategies: some males frequently changed sites, while other males were stationary at hot spots. Surprisingly, smaller males tended to be stationary at hot spots. A field manipulation of the availability of refuges for females to avoid harassment by males supported the notion that males prefer hot spots because they are sites where a scarcity of refuge for females makes it relatively easy for males to intercept females. Experiments in plastic pools compared sites with 20 males: 5 females (simulating hot spots) to pools with 5 males: 5 females. The rate of male harassment of females was higher in 20:5 pools as compared to 5:5 pools. In response to increased male harassment, females reduced their activity on the water and increased their time spent out of the water and thus unable to forage. Males showed a large male mating advantage (LMMA) in 5:5 pools, but, surprisingly, not in 20: 5 pools. This pattern can explain the field observation that small males prefer hot spots. A behavioral mechanism that can explain the LMMA is as follows. Mating occurs when males overcome female resistance. Larger males have a mating advantage over smaller males if females resist heavily. Increased harassment (e.g., in 20:5 pools as compared to 5:5 pools) might result in reduced female resistance to males and thus a reduced LMMA. Females also showed some non-random mating by size that might reflect an interplay between male preference for large females and the avoidance of males by large females.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arnqvist G (1989) Multiple mating in a water strider: mutual benefits or intersexual conflict? Anim Behav 38:749–756

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnqvist G (1992a) Pre-copulatory fighting in a water strider: inter-sexual conflict or mate assessment? Anim Behav 43:559–567

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnqvist G (1992b) The effects of operational sex ratio on the relative mating success of extreme male phenotypes in the water strider Gerris odontogaster (Zett.) (Heteroptera: Gerridae). Anim Behav 43:681–683

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnqvist G (1992c) Spatial variation in selective regimes: sexual selection in the water strider Gerris odontogaster. Evolution 46:914–929

    Google Scholar 

  • Balmford AP (1991) Mate choice on leks. Trends Ecol Evol 6:87–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanckenhorn WU (1990) Fitness consequence of foraging success and life-history tactics in water striders, Gerris remigis. PhD dissertation, State University of New York at Albany

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradbury JW, Gibson R (1983) Leks and mate choice. In: Bateson P (ed) Mate choice. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 109–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradbury JW, Vehrencamp SL, Gibson R (1985) Leks and the unanimity of female choice. In: Greenwood PJ, Harvey PH, Slatkin M (eds) Evolution: essays in honour of John Maynard Smith. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 101–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark SJ (1987) Prolonged copulation in the water strider Gerris remigis and a model of the evolution of sperm competition avoidance mechanisms. PhD dissertation, Rockefeller University

  • Clark SJ (1988) The effects of operational sex ratio and food deprivation on copulation duration in the water strider (Gerris remigis Say). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 23:317–332

    Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Green D, Hiraiwa-Hasegawa M, Albon SD (1988) Passing the buck: resource defense, lek breeding and mate choice in fallow deer. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 23:281–296

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper SD (1984) The effects of trout on water striders in stream pools. Oecologia 63:376–379

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowley PH, Travers SE, Linton MC, Cohn SL, Sih A, Sargent RC (1981) Mate density, predation risk, and the seasonal sequence of mate choices: a dynamic game. Am Nat 137:567–596

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies NB (1991) Mating systems. In: Krebs JR, Davies NB (eds) Behavioural ecology: an evolutionary approach, 3rd edn. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, pp 263–299

    Google Scholar 

  • Deutsch JC, Weeks P (1992) Uganda kob prefer high-visibility leks and territories. Behav Ecol 3:223–233

    Google Scholar 

  • Elmberg J (1991) Factors affecting male yearly mating success in the common frog, Rana temporaria. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 28:125–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Emlen ST, Oring LW (1977) Ecology, sexual selection and the evolution of mating systems. Science 197:215–223

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fairbairn DJ (1985) A test of the hypothesis of compensatory upstream dispersal using a stream-dwelling waterstrider, Gerris remigis Say. Oecologia 66:147–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairbairn DJ (1986) Does alary polymorphism imply dispersal polymorphism in the waterstrider, Gerris remigis? Ecol Entomol 11:355–368

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairbairn DJ (1988a) Sexual selection for homogamy in the Gerridae: an extension of Ridley's comparative approach. Evolution 42:1212–1222

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairbairn DJ (1988b) Adaptive significance of wing dimorphism in the absence of dispersal: a comparative study of wing morphs in the waterstrider, Gerris remigis. Ecol Entomol 13:273–281

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairbairn DJ (1990) Factors influencing sexual size dimorphism in temperate waterstriders. Am Nat 136:61–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairbairn DJ (1993) The costs of loading associated with matecarrying in the waterstrider, Aquarius remigis. Behav Ecol: in press

  • Fitzgerald GJ, Whoriskey FG, Morrissette J, Harding M (1992) Habitat scale, female cannibalism and male reproductive success in three-spined stickle-backs (Gasterosteus acuteatus). Behav Ecol 3:141–147

    Google Scholar 

  • Gage MJG (1991) Risk of sperm competition affects ejaculate size in the Mediterranean fruit fly. Anim Behav 42:1036–1037

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammerstein P, Parker GA (1987) Sexual selection: games between the sexes. In: Bradbury JW, Andersson MB (eds) sexual selection: testing the alternatives. Wiley, Chichester, pp 119–142

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurlbert SH (1978) The measure of niche overlap and some relatives. Ecology 59:67–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson ML, Gaines MS (1990) Evolution of dispersal: theoretical models and empirical tests using birds and mammals. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 21:449–480

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaitala V, Kaitala A, Getz WM (1989) Evolutionarily stable dispersal of a waterstrider in a temporally and spatially heterogeneous environment. Evol Ecol 3:283–298

    Google Scholar 

  • Kodric-Brown A (1988) Effects of sex-ratio manipulation on territoriality and spawning success of male pupfish, Cyprinodon pecosensis. Anim Behav 36:1136–1144

    Google Scholar 

  • Krupa JJ, Leopold WR, Sih A (1990) Female avoidance of male harassment in the giant water strider. Behavior 115:247–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence WS (1986) Male choice and competition in Tetraopes tetraphthaimus: effects of local sex ratio variation. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 28:289–296

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence WS (1987a) Effects of sex ratio on milkweed beetle emigration from host plant patches. Ecology 68:539–546

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence WS (1987b) Dispersal: an alternative mating tactic conditional on sex ratio and body size. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 21:367–373

    Google Scholar 

  • McLain DK (1980) Female choice and the adaptive significance of prolonged copulation in Nezara viriduta (Hemiptera:Pentatomidae). Psyche 87:325–336

    Google Scholar 

  • Milinski M, Parker GA (1991) Competition for resources. In: Krebs JR, Davies NB (eds) Behavioural ecology: an evolutionary approach, 3rd edn. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, pp 137–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Muller K (1982) The colonization cycle of freshwater insects. Oecologia 52:202–207

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker GA (1983) Mate quality and mating decisions. In: Bateson P (ed) Mate choice. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 141–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker GA (1984) Sperm competition and the evolution of animal mating strategies. In: Smith RL (ed) Sperm competition and the evolution of animal mating systems. Academic Press, Orlando, pp 1–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Partridge L, Endler JA (1987) Life history constraints on sexual selection. In: Bradbury JW, Andersson MB (eds) Sexual selection: testing the alternatives. Wiley, Chichester, pp 265–277

    Google Scholar 

  • Real L (1990) Search theory and mate choice. I. Models of singlesex discrimination. Am Nat 136:376–404

    Google Scholar 

  • Rice WR (1989) Analyzing tables of statistical tests. Evolution 43:223–225

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowe L (1992a) Convenience polyandry in a waterstrider: foraging conflicts and female control of copulation frequency and guarding duration. Anim Behav 44:189–202

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowe L (1992b) Ecology and evolution of reproductive biology in the waterstrider Gerris buenoi. PhD dissertation, University of British Columbia

  • Rubenstein DJ (1984) Resource acquisition and alternative mating strategies in water striders. Am Zool 24:345–353

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubenstein DJ (1989) Sperm competition in the water strider, Gerris remigis. Anim Behav 38:631–636

    Google Scholar 

  • S.A.S. Institute Inc. (1985) SAS User's Guide: Statistics. Cary, North Carolina

  • Shelly TW, Bailey WJ (1992) Experimental manipulation of mate choice by male katydids: the effect of female encounter rate. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 30:277–282

    Google Scholar 

  • Sih A, Krupa JJ (1992) Predation risk, food deprivation and nonrandom mating by size in the stream water strider, Aquarius remigis. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 31:51–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Sih A, Krupa J, Travers SE (1990) An experimental study on the effects of predation risk and feeding regime on the mating behavior of the water strider, Gerris remigis. Am Nat 135:284–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thornhill R, Alcock J (1983) The evolution of insect mating systems. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Warner RR (1987) Female choice of sites versus mates in a coral reef fish, Thalassoma bifasciatum. Anim Behav 35:1470–1478

    Google Scholar 

  • Warner RR, Hoffman SG (1980) Local population size as a determinant of mating system and sexual composition in two tropical marine fishes (Thalassoma). Evolution 34:508–518

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilcox RS (1984) Male copulatory guarding enhances female foraging in a water strider. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 15:171–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilcox RS, Ruckdeschel T (1982) Food threshold territoriality in a water strider (Gerris remigis). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 11:85–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiley RH (1991) Lekking in birds and mammals: behavioral and evolutionary issues. Adv Stud Behav 20:201–291

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson L (1986) SYSTAT: the system for statistics. Systat, Evanston

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

Correspondence to: A. Sih

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Krupa, J.J., Sih, A. Experimental studies on water strider mating dynamics: spatial variation in density and sex ratio. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 33, 107–120 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00171662

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00171662

Keywords

Navigation