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Allocation of nuptial gifts in tree crickets changes with both male and female diet

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Abstract

Male tree crickets, Oecanthus nigricornis, offer a nuptial gift to females during mating in the form of a secretion from a dorsal metanotal gland. I examined the effects of male and female nutrient limitation on allocation of the gift. Males were fed 14C radiolabeled amino acids, placed onto high- or low-quality diets and then mated with females also maintained on high- or low-quality diets. Female acquisition of radiolabel increased, and residual radiolabel within the metanotal gland decreased, over time verifying that gift size correlates with duration of courtship feeding. High-diet females produced greater egg numbers and allocated proportionally more of the male-derived amino acids to their ovaries. As predicted, duration of courtship feeding was greater for males on high-quality diets and females on low-quality diets. Amino acid transfer, measured as the proportion of total radiolabel transferred to the female, showed a significant interaction between male and female diet. High-diet females acquired available radiolabel more rapidly from high-diet males, but low-diet females acquired available radiolabel more rapidly from low-diet males. The causes of these differences between feeding duration and nutrient allocation are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Syracuse University and a scholarly incentive award from SUNY Fredonia. I thank Ann Meany, Scott Pitnick, Andrew Sharman, and Wayne Yunghans for all their help.

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  1. Department of Biology, State University of New York at Fredonia, Fredonia, NY, 14063, USA

    William D. Brown

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  1. William D. Brown
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Correspondence to William D. Brown.

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Communicated by D. Gwynne

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Brown, W.D. Allocation of nuptial gifts in tree crickets changes with both male and female diet. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 65, 1007–1014 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-1105-y

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