10.5061/DRYAD.46N9H
Westerman, Erica L.
Yale University
University of Chicago
Chirathivat, Napon
Yale University
Schyling, Elizabeth
Yale University
Monteiro, Antónia
National University of Singapore
Yale University
Data from: Mate preference for a phenotypically plastic trait is learned,
and may facilitate preference-phenotype matching
Dryad
dataset
2014
Seasonal polyphenism
sexual imprinting
Bicyclus anynana
Mate choice
2014-02-06T15:19:58Z
2014-02-06T15:19:58Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.12381
105544 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Fixed, genetically determined, mate preferences for species whose adult
phenotype varies with rearing environment may be maladaptive, as the
phenotype that is most fit in the parental environment may be absent in
the offspring environment. Mate preference in species with polyphenisms
(environmentally dependent alternative phenotypes) should therefore either
not focus on polyphenic traits, be polyphenic themselves, or learned each
generation. Here we test these alternative hypotheses by first describing
a female-limited seasonal polyphenism in a sexually dimorphic trait in the
butterfly Bicyclus anynana, dorsal hindwing spot number (DHSN), and then
testing whether male and female mate preferences for this trait exist, and
whether they are seasonally polyphenic, or learned. Neither naïve males
nor naive females in either seasonal form exhibited mating preferences for
DHSN. However, males, but not females, noticed DHSN variation and learned
mate preferences for DHSN. These results suggest that individuals may
accommodate environmentally dependent variation in morphological traits
via learned mate preferences in each generation, and that learned mate
preference plasticity can be sexually dimorphic.
DorsalHindwingSpotNumber131024R1Number of dorsal hindwing spots for
butterflies used to determine sexual dimorphism in dorsal hindwing spot
number, and developmental temperature dependence of female dorsal hindwing
spots.BehaviorandMateChoiceData131024R1Spreadsheet containing both the
mating outcome and the trainer behavior for all behavior/mating trials
reported in the manuscript. Treatments are abbreviated: WS/DS=seasonal
form, M/F=sex of trainer or trainee for naive trials, 0/2/naive=exposure.
Behaviors are counts of trainer behaviors.