SIMPLE TRANSITIVE MATE CHOICE IN ENCHENOPA BINOTATA TREEHOPERS (HEMIPTERA: MEMBRACIDAE)
Mentor 1
Bretta Speck
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
27-4-2018 1:00 PM
Description
SIMPLE TRANSITIVE MATE CHOICE IN ENCHENOPA BINOTATA TREEHOPERS
(HEMIPTERA: MEMBRACIDAE)
Caley Conley*, Bretta Speck, Rafael Rodriguez
The purpose of this research lab was to look at the importance of female mate choice in Enchenop binotata treehoppers. Mate choice decisions are based on the mate preference functions, which are curves that distinguish the relationship between attractiveness of the mate and the features that the mate provides. The use of transitivity relates back to preference functions in the decision making of a female’s mate. In our research, we used a competitive alternative, which incorporates the intransitivity, that allowed the females to respond to either a very low or very high quality male. When given this stimuli, females had altered their preference in mate choice, meaning they chose one or the other, or non at all. In almost all the female treehoppers tested in this study, it was found that majority of them preferred the traits when presented with the preferred male mate. We tested the transitive and intransitive mate choice hypotheses with Enchenopa binotata treehoppers. We picked up signaling from vibrational playbacks that varied in single variable and frequency from each female. We found that females selected the preferred males over the non-preferred males regardless of the presence of a decoy or the quality of the decoy. These findings show that Enchenopa treehoppers use transitive mate choice.
SIMPLE TRANSITIVE MATE CHOICE IN ENCHENOPA BINOTATA TREEHOPERS (HEMIPTERA: MEMBRACIDAE)
Union Wisconsin Room
SIMPLE TRANSITIVE MATE CHOICE IN ENCHENOPA BINOTATA TREEHOPERS
(HEMIPTERA: MEMBRACIDAE)
Caley Conley*, Bretta Speck, Rafael Rodriguez
The purpose of this research lab was to look at the importance of female mate choice in Enchenop binotata treehoppers. Mate choice decisions are based on the mate preference functions, which are curves that distinguish the relationship between attractiveness of the mate and the features that the mate provides. The use of transitivity relates back to preference functions in the decision making of a female’s mate. In our research, we used a competitive alternative, which incorporates the intransitivity, that allowed the females to respond to either a very low or very high quality male. When given this stimuli, females had altered their preference in mate choice, meaning they chose one or the other, or non at all. In almost all the female treehoppers tested in this study, it was found that majority of them preferred the traits when presented with the preferred male mate. We tested the transitive and intransitive mate choice hypotheses with Enchenopa binotata treehoppers. We picked up signaling from vibrational playbacks that varied in single variable and frequency from each female. We found that females selected the preferred males over the non-preferred males regardless of the presence of a decoy or the quality of the decoy. These findings show that Enchenopa treehoppers use transitive mate choice.
