No Effect of Female Condition on Mate Call Responsiveness in Hawaiian Pacific Field Cricket
Sexual selection is a type of selection that favors traits among individuals that increase their chances of reproductive success. In order for sexual selection to act on a trait, that trait must vary between individuals among a population. Condition is such a trait that can vary among individuals and may affect certain behaviors. One way that condition may be manipulated is through diet quality, and one behavior that may be affected and has important consequences for fitness is mate choice. However, the interaction of condition and mate choice has not been well-investigated. This study investigated how a female’s condition impacts her interest in mating. I hypothesized that females of better condition will be more choosy when it comes to finding a mate because they have more resources to allocate to mate choice. To test this, I used lab-reared Teleogryllus oceanicus females and manipulated their diet during and after maturation to create a high-condition and low-condition group. Both groups were then subjected to a phonotaxis experiment where their latency to respond to synthesized male song was recorded as a proxy for measuring mate choice. Although the diets were effective at manipulating body condition, there was no significant effect of that condition on female responsiveness to male song. These results contradict other recent findings and imply that other individual traits are targeted by sexual selection.