| Title: | "Uncertainty about flying conspecifics causes territorial contests of the Old World swallowtail, Papilio machaon" |
| Author(s): | Takeuchi T; Yabuta S; Takasaki H; |
| Address: | "1Entomological Laboratory, Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, 1-1 Gakuencho, Nakaku, Sakai, Osaka, 5998531 Japan. ISNI: 0000 0001 0676 0594. GRID: grid.261455.1 2Department of Animal Sciences, Teikyo University of Science & Technology, 2525 Yatsusawa, Uenohara, Yamanashi, 4090193 Japan. ISNI: 0000 0004 1770 1364. GRID: grid.412336.1 3Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Okayama University of Science, Ridai-cho, Okayama, Okayama 7000005 Japan. ISNI: 0000 0001 0672 2184. GRID: grid.444568.f" |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s12983-019-0324-y |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1742-9994 (Print) 1742-9994 (Electronic) 1742-9994 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "BACKGROUND: Male-male aerial contests of territorial butterflies are difficult to explain by major contest models based on game theory because of butterflies' apparent inability to inflict substantial costs on their opponent. As an alternative, the 'erroneous courtship hypothesis' was presented. This hypothesis is based on the assumption that territorial butterflies cannot discriminate the sex of flying conspecifics. The hypothesis regards the aerial contest of male butterflies as an inevitable same-sex entanglement in the butterflies' behavioral sequence. To test the robustness of the hypothesis, we investigated the sex recognition abilities of the Old World swallowtail, Papilio machaon. RESULTS: We presented four types of flapping butterfly specimens (fresh male and female, chemicals-removed male and female) to territorial males. The males touched fresh female specimens and showed typical courtship flight. For the other types of specimens, they rarely showed courtship flight although they approached or touched them. In addition, territorial males reacted longer to fresh males than to fresh females. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that although territorial males recognize flying females as sexual partners by sensing their semiochemicals, they cannot identify flying conspecific males, and continue to gather information on them. P. machaon is one of the species whose behavior is most incompatible with the erroneous courtship hypothesis, as its males perform a typical courtship flight to flying females, suggesting the ability of sexing flying conspecifics. Nevertheless, the erroneous courtship hypothesis was not disproved by our results" |
| Keywords: | Butterfly Courtship Mating system Sexual recognition Sexual selection Territory War of attrition; |
| Notes: | "PubMed-not-MEDLINETakeuchi, Tsuyoshi Yabuta, Shinji Takasaki, Hiroyuki eng England 2019/07/10 Front Zool. 2019 Jun 24; 16:22. doi: 10.1186/s12983-019-0324-y. eCollection 2019" |
