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Proc Biol Sci

Title:		Male black widows parasitize mate-searching effort of rivals to find females faster
Author(s):		Scott CE; McCann S; Andrade MCB;
Address:		"Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, M1C 1A4"
Journal Title:		Proc Biol Sci
Year:		2019
Volume:		20190731
Issue:		1908
Page Number:		20191470 -
DOI:		10.1098/rspb.2019.1470
ISSN/ISBN:		1471-2954 (Electronic) 0962-8452 (Print) 0962-8452 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Mate-searching success is a critical precursor to mating, but there is a dearth of research on traits and tactics that confer a competitive advantage in finding potential mates. Theory and available empirical evidence suggest that males locate mates using mate-attraction signals produced by receptive females (personal information) and avoid inadvertently produced cues from rival males (social information) that indicate a female has probably already mated. Here, we show that western black widow males use both kinds of information to find females efficiently, parasitizing the searching effort of rivals in a way that guarantees competition over mating after reaching a female's web. This tactic may be adaptive because female receptivity is transient, and we show that (i) mate searching is risky (88% mortality) and (ii) a strongly male-biased operational sex ratio (from 1.2 : 1 to more than 10 : 1) makes competition inevitable. Males with access to rivals' silk trails moved at higher speeds than those with only personal information, and located females even when personal information was unreliable or absent. We show that following rivals can increase the potential for sexual selection on females as well as males and argue it may be more widespread in nature than is currently realized"
Keywords:		"Animals Black Widow Spider/*physiology Male *Mating Preference, Animal chemical cues communication mate searching pheromone scramble competition social information;"
Notes:		"MedlineScott, Catherine E McCann, Sean Andrade, Maydianne C B eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2019/08/01 Proc Biol Sci. 2019 Aug 14; 286(1908):20191470. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1470. Epub 2019 Jul 31"