The regulation of female hydrocarbons and courtship behavior by dopamine and their relationship with locomotion, were investigated in Drosophila melanogaster. Ddc mutants and wild-type female flies treated with tyrosine hydroxylase inhibitors (alpha-methyltyrosine or 3-iodotyrosine) had fewer diene hydrocarbons (female pheromones) and there was a total (Ddc), partial (alpha-methyltyrosine) or n...

Studies of mating preferences and pre-mating reproductive isolation have often focused on females, but the potential importance of male preferences is increasingly appreciated. We investigated male behavior in the context of reproductive isolation between divergent anadromous and stream-resident populations of threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, using size-manipulated females of bot...

Tympanal sound receptors in moths evolved in response to selective pressures provided by echolocating insectivorous bats. The presence of these ultrasound detectors also set the stage for the later evolution of ultrasonic courtship signals in the tympanate moth families. Male moths have repeatedly exploited the bat-detection mechanisms in females for the purpose of finding, identifying and obta...

Males of many insect species engage in ritualized behaviours during courtship that include the donation of a food gift to their partner. Although there is extensive diversity in nuptial gift form, a gift provided before mating typically serves to facilitate copulation, thereby increasing a male's mating success. Unlike other insects, the Hawaiian swordtail cricket Laupala shows protracted court...

Theory suggests that reproductive effort generally increases with age, but life-history models indicate that other outcomes are possible. Empirical data are needed to quantify variation in actual age-dependence. Data are readily attainable for females (e.g. clutch per egg size), but not for males (e.g. courtship effort). To quantify male effort one must: (i) experimentally control for potential...

Courtship is pivotal to successful reproduction throughout the animal kingdom. Sexual differences in the nervous system are thought to underlie courtship behavior. Male courtship behavior in Drosophila is in large part regulated by the gene fruitless (fru). fru has been reported to encode at least three putative BTB-zinc-finger transcription factors predicted to have different DNA-binding speci...

Previous studies found that pinealectomy of male Canadian red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) in the autumn, before prolonged exposure to low temperatures (hibernation), significantly impaired the expression of courtship behavior upon emergence in the spring. Additionally, pinealectomized animals with a disrupted diel cycle of plasma melatonin did not court while those exhi...

Experimental data suggest, and theoretical models typically assume, that males of many fruit flies (Drosophila spp) are at least partially indiscriminate while searching for mates, and that it is mostly the females who exert selective mate choice, which can lead to incipient speciation. Evidence on learning by male D. melanogaster in the context of courtship, however, raises the possibility tha...

Investigating individual differences in sexual performance in unmanipulated males is important for understanding natural relationships between behavior and morphology, and the mechanisms regulating them. Among male green anole lizards, some court and copulate frequently (studs) and others do not (duds). To evaluate potential factors underlying differences in the level of these behaviors, morpho...