Sexual experience enhances Drosophila melanogaster male mating behavior and success.
Competition for mates is a wide-spread phenomenon affecting individual reproductive success. The ability of animals to adjust their behaviors in response to changing social environment is important and well documented. Drosophila melanogaster males compete with one another for matings with females a...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2014-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4013029?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1818335145702195200 |
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| author | Sehresh Saleem Patrick H Ruggles Wiley K Abbott Ginger E Carney |
| author_facet | Sehresh Saleem Patrick H Ruggles Wiley K Abbott Ginger E Carney |
| author_sort | Sehresh Saleem |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Competition for mates is a wide-spread phenomenon affecting individual reproductive success. The ability of animals to adjust their behaviors in response to changing social environment is important and well documented. Drosophila melanogaster males compete with one another for matings with females and modify their reproductive behaviors based on prior social interactions. However, it remains to be determined how male social experience that culminates in mating with a female impacts subsequent male reproductive behaviors and mating success. Here we show that sexual experience enhances future mating success. Previously mated D. melanogaster males adjust their courtship behaviors and out-compete sexually inexperienced males for copulations. Interestingly, courtship experience alone is not sufficient in providing this competitive advantage, indicating that copulation plays a role in reinforcing this social learning. We also show that females use their sense of hearing to preferentially mate with experienced males when given a choice. Our results demonstrate the ability of previously mated males to learn from their positive sexual experiences and adjust their behaviors to gain a mating advantage. These experienced-based changes in behavior reveal strategies that animals likely use to increase their fecundity in natural competitive environments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T14:18:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1818ee95c3c64620b41d048012cc3834 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T14:18:47Z |
| publishDate | 2014-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-1818ee95c3c64620b41d048012cc38342022-12-21T23:42:09ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-0195e9663910.1371/journal.pone.0096639Sexual experience enhances Drosophila melanogaster male mating behavior and success.Sehresh SaleemPatrick H RugglesWiley K AbbottGinger E CarneyCompetition for mates is a wide-spread phenomenon affecting individual reproductive success. The ability of animals to adjust their behaviors in response to changing social environment is important and well documented. Drosophila melanogaster males compete with one another for matings with females and modify their reproductive behaviors based on prior social interactions. However, it remains to be determined how male social experience that culminates in mating with a female impacts subsequent male reproductive behaviors and mating success. Here we show that sexual experience enhances future mating success. Previously mated D. melanogaster males adjust their courtship behaviors and out-compete sexually inexperienced males for copulations. Interestingly, courtship experience alone is not sufficient in providing this competitive advantage, indicating that copulation plays a role in reinforcing this social learning. We also show that females use their sense of hearing to preferentially mate with experienced males when given a choice. Our results demonstrate the ability of previously mated males to learn from their positive sexual experiences and adjust their behaviors to gain a mating advantage. These experienced-based changes in behavior reveal strategies that animals likely use to increase their fecundity in natural competitive environments.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4013029?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Sehresh Saleem Patrick H Ruggles Wiley K Abbott Ginger E Carney Sexual experience enhances Drosophila melanogaster male mating behavior and success. PLoS ONE |
| title | Sexual experience enhances Drosophila melanogaster male mating behavior and success. |
| title_full | Sexual experience enhances Drosophila melanogaster male mating behavior and success. |
| title_fullStr | Sexual experience enhances Drosophila melanogaster male mating behavior and success. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sexual experience enhances Drosophila melanogaster male mating behavior and success. |
| title_short | Sexual experience enhances Drosophila melanogaster male mating behavior and success. |
| title_sort | sexual experience enhances drosophila melanogaster male mating behavior and success |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4013029?pdf=render |
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