10.5061/DRYAD.T1G1JWT3H
Wilgers, Dustin
McPherson College
Watts, J. Colton
Texas A&M University
Hebets, Eileen
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Habitat complexity and complex signal function – exploring the role of
ornamentation
Dryad
dataset
2021
signal efficacy
signal interaction
complex signaling
2021-12-08T00:00:00Z
2021-12-08T00:00:00Z
en
11179 bytes
3
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Animals often communicate in complex, heterogeneous environments, leading
to hypothesized selection for increased detectability or discriminability
in signaling traits. The extent to which secondary sexual ornaments have
evolved to overcome the challenges of signaling in complex environments,
however, remains understudied, especially in comparison to their role as
indicator traits. This study tested the hypothesis that the
condition-dependent secondary sexual ornamentation in the wolf spider
Rabidosa rabida functions to increase detectability/discriminability in
visually complex environments. We predicted that male ornamentation would
interact with the complexity of the signaling environment to affect male
mating success. In particular, we expected ornaments to confer a greater
mating advantage when males courted in visually complex environments. To
test this, we artificially manipulated male foreleg ornamentation
(present/absent) and ran repeated-measures mating trials across laboratory
microcosms that represented simple versus complex visual signaling
environments. Microcosm visual complexity differed in their background
pattern, grass stem color and grass stem placement. We found that
ornamented males mated more often and more quickly than unornamented males
across both environments, but we found no support for an
ornament-by-environment interaction. Male courtship rate, however, did
interact with the signaling environment. Despite achieving the same level
of mating success across signaling environments, ornamented males courted
less rapidly in complex versus simple environments, while environmental
complexity had no influence on unornamented male courtship rates. Our
results suggest that the visual complexity of the signaling environment
influences the interactive influence of ornamentation and dynamic visual
courtship on female mate choice.
This dataset was collected by live-scoring mating trials between male and
female Rabidosa rabida wolf spiders. Males were assigned to one of two
ornamentation treatments (ornamented/unornamented), corresponding to the
color their forelegs were painted (black or brown, respectively). Each
male then completed two mating trials, one in a simple microcosm and one
in a complex microcosm, in random order. The dataset has been processed
such that it includes only males that completed the entirity of the
experiment (i.e., were assayed in both simple and complex
microcosm types).
We have uploaded a ReadMe file that includes the a list of abbreviations
used in the dataset.