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A Method to Test the Effect of Environmental Cues on Mating Behavior in Drosophila melanogaster
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Stress responsiveness predicts individual variation in mate selectivity.

Maren N Vitousek1, L Michael Romero

  • 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. mnv6@cornell.edu

General and Comparative Endocrinology
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Female Galápagos marine iguanas with a lower stress hormone (corticosterone) response were more selective in choosing mates. This finding links individual stress reactivity to crucial reproductive behaviors in wild animals.

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Endocrinology
  • Reproductive Biology

Background:

  • Steroid hormones influence diverse physiological and behavioral processes.
  • Individual variation in hormone levels is linked to reproductive success, but its connection to specific reproductive behaviors in wild populations remains unclear.
  • Mate choice is a critical, costly aspect of reproduction with significant population-level variation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between individual variation in hormone concentrations (corticosterone and testosterone) and mate selection behavior in female Galápagos marine iguanas.
  • To determine if stress-induced corticosterone levels, which are lower during reproduction in this species, correlate with mate selectivity.
  • To explore the relationship between baseline hormones, body condition, and female mate choice.

Main Methods:

  • Measuring stress-induced and baseline corticosterone, and testosterone levels in female Galápagos marine iguanas during the breeding season.
  • Quantifying mate selectivity by observing the number of displaying males assessed by individual females.
  • Analyzing the repeatability of stress-induced corticosterone levels throughout the breeding period.

Main Results:

  • Stress-induced corticosterone levels were individually repeatable across the seven-week breeding period.
  • Reproductive females with a lower stress-induced corticosterone response assessed significantly more displaying males, indicating higher mate selectivity.
  • Neither baseline corticosterone nor testosterone levels predicted mate selectivity; body condition showed a non-significant trend towards reduced selectivity in poorer condition.

Conclusions:

  • Individual variation in the corticosterone stress response is associated with female mate selectivity in Galápagos marine iguanas.
  • This study provides the first evidence linking the corticosterone stress response to mate choice behavior in a wild species.
  • Further research is needed to elucidate the functional mechanisms underlying the relationship between corticosterone and mate choice, and potential direct mediation by acute corticosterone increases.