An empirical test of the bet‐hedging polyandry hypothesis: Female red flour beetles avoid extinction via multiple mating
Abstract Bet‐hedging via polyandry (spreading the extinction risk of the female's lineage over multiple males) may explain the evolution of female multiple mating, which is found in a wide range of animal and plant taxa. This hypothesis posits that females can increase their fitness via polyand...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7418 |
| _version_ | 1831746312414953472 |
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| author | Kentarou Matsumura Takahisa Miyatake Yukio Yasui |
| author_facet | Kentarou Matsumura Takahisa Miyatake Yukio Yasui |
| author_sort | Kentarou Matsumura |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Bet‐hedging via polyandry (spreading the extinction risk of the female's lineage over multiple males) may explain the evolution of female multiple mating, which is found in a wide range of animal and plant taxa. This hypothesis posits that females can increase their fitness via polyandrous mating when “unsuitable” males (i.e., males causing reproductive failure for various reasons) are frequent in the population and females cannot discriminate such unsuitable mates. Although recent theoretical studies have shown that polyandry can operate as a bet‐hedging strategy, empirical tests are scarce. In the present study, we tested the bet‐hedging polyandry hypothesis by using the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. We compared female reproductive success between monandry and polyandry treatments when females mated with males randomly collected from an experimental population, including 20% irradiated (infertile) males. In addition, we evaluated geometric mean fitness across multiple generations as the index of adaptability of bet‐hedging traits. Polyandrous females showed a significantly higher egg hatching rate and higher geometric mean fitness than monandrous females. These results strongly support the bet‐hedging polyandry hypothesis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T21:12:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b59ac53500c040de9aabedb0a57d388a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T21:12:57Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-b59ac53500c040de9aabedb0a57d388a2022-12-21T18:50:05ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582021-05-0111105295530410.1002/ece3.7418An empirical test of the bet‐hedging polyandry hypothesis: Female red flour beetles avoid extinction via multiple matingKentarou Matsumura0Takahisa Miyatake1Yukio Yasui2Laboratory of Entomology Faculty of Agriculture Kagawa University Kagawa JapanLaboratory of Evolutionary Ecology Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science Okayama University Okayama JapanLaboratory of Entomology Faculty of Agriculture Kagawa University Kagawa JapanAbstract Bet‐hedging via polyandry (spreading the extinction risk of the female's lineage over multiple males) may explain the evolution of female multiple mating, which is found in a wide range of animal and plant taxa. This hypothesis posits that females can increase their fitness via polyandrous mating when “unsuitable” males (i.e., males causing reproductive failure for various reasons) are frequent in the population and females cannot discriminate such unsuitable mates. Although recent theoretical studies have shown that polyandry can operate as a bet‐hedging strategy, empirical tests are scarce. In the present study, we tested the bet‐hedging polyandry hypothesis by using the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. We compared female reproductive success between monandry and polyandry treatments when females mated with males randomly collected from an experimental population, including 20% irradiated (infertile) males. In addition, we evaluated geometric mean fitness across multiple generations as the index of adaptability of bet‐hedging traits. Polyandrous females showed a significantly higher egg hatching rate and higher geometric mean fitness than monandrous females. These results strongly support the bet‐hedging polyandry hypothesis.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7418bet‐hedgingextinction avoidancemonandrypolyandryrisk spreadingTribolium castaneum |
| spellingShingle | Kentarou Matsumura Takahisa Miyatake Yukio Yasui An empirical test of the bet‐hedging polyandry hypothesis: Female red flour beetles avoid extinction via multiple mating Ecology and Evolution bet‐hedging extinction avoidance monandry polyandry risk spreading Tribolium castaneum |
| title | An empirical test of the bet‐hedging polyandry hypothesis: Female red flour beetles avoid extinction via multiple mating |
| title_full | An empirical test of the bet‐hedging polyandry hypothesis: Female red flour beetles avoid extinction via multiple mating |
| title_fullStr | An empirical test of the bet‐hedging polyandry hypothesis: Female red flour beetles avoid extinction via multiple mating |
| title_full_unstemmed | An empirical test of the bet‐hedging polyandry hypothesis: Female red flour beetles avoid extinction via multiple mating |
| title_short | An empirical test of the bet‐hedging polyandry hypothesis: Female red flour beetles avoid extinction via multiple mating |
| title_sort | empirical test of the bet hedging polyandry hypothesis female red flour beetles avoid extinction via multiple mating |
| topic | bet‐hedging extinction avoidance monandry polyandry risk spreading Tribolium castaneum |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7418 |
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