Mating in a viscous universe: the race is to the agile, not to the swift
Open Access
- 7 October 2003
- journal article
- research article
- Published by The Royal Society in Proceedings Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences
- Vol. 270 (1528), 1991-1995
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2003.2477
Abstract
Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection has at its focal point the mating success of organisms. Among male animals, large body size is widely seen as the principal determinant of mating success. However, where mating takes place in a three–dimensional arena such as water, the arboreal habitat or air, small size with its concomitant aerobatic advantages might be advantageous. Despite considerable interest, the relationship between aerobatic ability and mating success has not yet been demonstrated in a single animal species. Here, we test the hypothesis that the known mating success of small male midges is due to their greater aerobatic ability. To do this, male midges collected from leks in the wild were flown and their flight paths in free flight were recorded on high–speed cameras in the laboratory. Four flight parameters that would seem relevant to male mate acquisition in flight, i.e. acceleration, maximum speed, tortuosity and turn–rate, were analysed with respect to body size. We show that, while in terms of maximum speed there was no detectable difference between small and large males, small males outperformed larger ones with respect to acceleration, tortuosity and turn–rate. We conclude that the hypothesis that small males gain their mating advantage through aerobatic superiority is consistent with the observations reported here.Keywords
This publication has 26 references indexed in Scilit:
- Caught on cameraNature, 2002
- The Biomechanics of Insect FlightPublished by Walter de Gruyter GmbH ,2000
- Sexual SelectionPublished by Walter de Gruyter GmbH ,1994
- Limitations on Animal Flight PerformanceJournal Of Experimental Biology, 1991
- A Critical Analysis of the Use of High-Speed Film to Determine Maximum Accelerations of FishJournal Of Experimental Biology, 1989
- Survival of the smallest: advantages and costs of small size in flying animalsEcological Entomology, 1986
- Mischocyttarus flavitarsis in Arizona: Social and Nesting Biology of a Polistine WaspZeitschrift Fur Tierpsychologie, 1979
- The Complex Courtship Behavior of Physiphora demandata (F.) (Diptera: Otitidae)Zeitschrift Fur Tierpsychologie, 1979
- On the Mechanics of Flight of Small InsectsPublished by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,1975
- The descent of man, and selection in relation to sexPublished by Biodiversity Heritage Library ,1871