Precopulatory choice for cues of material benefits in tree crickets

Abstract

The relative importance of direct and indirect benefits models of mate choice is a central question in sexual selection, but separating the two models is very difficult because high quality males often provide both better direct benefits and better genes. In tree crickets, Oecanthus nigricornis, females have the opportunity to gain both directly and indirectly from mate choice. Female tree crickets exercise premating choice for large males, but the model underlying this choice is unknown. In this study we examine the proximate cues used by female tree crickets to reject males, and show that the ability of males to provide food is a central cue. In contrast, we find no evidence that the relative size of mates is important in mate rejection. The fact that the major phenotypic cues of male quality are related to food provisioning suggests that the role of genetic benefits in shaping female preferences is limited by the extent to which food provisioning signals genetic quality.