Female fertilization: effects of sex-specific density and sex ratio determined experimentally for Colorado potato beetles and Drosophila fruit flies

PLoS One. 2013 Apr 12;8(4):e60381. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0060381. Print 2013.

Abstract

If males and females affect reproduction differentially, understanding and predicting sexual reproduction requires specification of response surfaces, that is, two-dimensional functions that relate reproduction to the (numeric) densities of both sexes. Aiming at rigorous measurement of female per capita fertilization response surfaces, we conducted a multifactorial experiment and reanalyzed an extensive data set. In our experiment, we varied the density of male and female Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Colorado potato beetles) by placing different numbers of the two sexes on enclosed Solanum tuberosum (potato plants) to determine the proportion of females fertilized after 3 or 22 hours. In the reanalysis, we investigated how the short-term fertilization probability of three Drosophila strains (melanogaster ebony, m. sepia, and simulans) depended on adult sex ratio (proportion of males) and total density. The fertilization probability of female Leptinotarsa decemlineata increased logistically with male density, but not with female density. These effects were robust to trial duration. The fertilization probability of female Drosophila increased logistically with both sex ratio and total density. Treatment effects interacted in m. sepia, and simulans. These findings highlight the importance of well-designed, multifactorial experiments and strengthen previous experimental evidence for the relevance of sex-specific densities to understanding and prediction of female fertilization probability.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Coleoptera / physiology*
  • Colorado
  • Drosophila / physiology*
  • Female
  • Fertilization / physiology*
  • Logistic Models
  • Male
  • Population Dynamics
  • Sex Characteristics*
  • Sex Ratio*
  • Solanum tuberosum / parasitology*

Grants and funding

WKV, MEH, and HK acknowledge financial support from the Academy of Finland. GB and PM acknowledge financial support from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.