Presentation Details
| The Effect of Opposing Sexual and Natural Selective Pressures on the Mating Calls of Parasitized Katydids Kayla Murphy, Oliver Beckers. Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky, USA |
Abstract
Male katydids produce acoustic calls to attract mates, but these calls also attract the parasitoid fly Ormia lineifrons that deposits lethal larvae on the katydid. Continued calling of parasitized males increases the risk of superparasitism, which is costly to the fly because later deposited larvae die with the host when the first clutch of larvae emerges. Thus, natural selection exerted by the parasitoid should favor reduced calling or altered calls to indicate the host’s parasitism status. Sexual selection however, should favor unaltered host calls and an increase in calling activity before the impending death. We hypothesized that the stronger of these opposing selective pressures would shape host calling. We recorded calls from unparasitized and parasitized males of three Neoconocephalus hosts. Neoconocephalus retusus ceased calling immediately after infestation and N. robustus reduced calling amount while calls remained unchanged, suggesting natural selection explaining this result. In contrast, N. velox increased calling effort of unchanged calls, suggesting sexual selection explaining this result. We discuss the contrasting results in the context of the species ecology.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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