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Mate Choice

Mate Choice

Mate choice—the decision about whom to mate with—is a type of natural selection, since animals must reproduce to pass down their genes. Mate choice is also called intersexual selection because the behavior occurs between the sexes.

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Using Rhodamine to Tag Mites for Studies of Pre- and Post-Copulatory Sexual Selection.

Anastasia J Shavrova¹, Bruno A Buzatto², Michael M Kasumovic¹

¹Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences UNSW Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia.

Ecology and Evolution

|November 6, 2024

Summary

Researchers tested Rhodamine B (RhB) and Rhodamine 110 (Rh110) as inexpensive tags for studying sexual selection in bulb mites. While effective for individual tracking, rapid degradation limited sperm transfer observations.

Keywords:

animal behaviour invertebrates sexual selection tagging tracking

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Area of Science:

Reproductive Biology
Animal Behavior
Arachnology

Background:

Sexual selection research increasingly uses tagging methods to study female mate choice and post-copulatory processes.
Existing tagging methods are often expensive and primarily developed for model insect species.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate Rhodamine B (RhB) and Rhodamine 110 (Rh110) as cost-effective tagging agents for individual and sperm tracking in the bulb mite, *Rhizoglyphus echinopus*.
To assess the feasibility of using Rhodamine dyes for observing pre- and post-copulatory behaviors in a non-model arachnid.

Main Methods:

Rhodamine B and Rhodamine 110 were administered to the diet of *Rhizoglyphus echinopus* mites.
Individuals were tracked and distinguished using LED and fluorescent microscopy.
Sperm transfer was investigated using Rhodamine tagging.

Main Results:

Both RhB and Rh110 successfully tagged individual mites, allowing for clear differentiation using microscopy.
Rhodamine dyes exhibited rapid degradation within the mites, attributed to their high metabolic rate.
Variable results were obtained for sperm transfer trials due to the rapid dye degradation.

Conclusions:

Rhodamine dyes offer a simple and affordable method for tagging individuals in small invertebrates like bulb mites.
The rapid degradation of Rhodamine necessitates further methodological refinement for reliable sperm transfer studies in this species.
This tagging approach holds potential for sexual selection research in various invertebrate taxa.