Complex courtship success and plasticity environments displays facilitate in signaling across male reproductive variable  

作　　者：Dustin J. WILGERS Eileen A. HEBETS 

机构地区：[1]School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA

出　　处：《Current Zoology》2011年第2期175-186,共12页动物学报（英文版）

基　　金：Acknowledgements We would like to thank J. Rovner and W. Tietjen for their pioneering work on this wonderful species. We thank A. Basolo, L. Sullivan-Beckers, and O. Beckers for helpful comments on earlier versions of this manuscript, and R. Willemart, S. Schwartz, E Shamble, K. Fowler-Finn, A. Rundus, and D. Wickwire for help in collection of spiders. Spider body measurements were taken by B. Cook. This work was supported by UNL SBS special funds and GAANN fellowship research funds to DJW and the National Science Foundation （10S -0643179） to EAH.

摘　　要：Effective signal transmission is essential for communication. In environments where signal transmission is highly variable, signalers may utilize complex signals, which incorporate multiple components and modalities, to maintain effective communication. Male Rabidosa rabida wolf spiders produce complex courtship signals, consisting of both visual and seismic components. We test the hypothesis that the complex signaling of R. rabida contributes to male reproductive success in variable signaling environments. We first examine the condition-dependence of foreleg ornamentation （a presumed visual signal） and seismic signal components and find that both may provide potentially redundant information on foraging history. Next, we assessed reproductive success across manipulated signaling environments that varied in the effectiveness of visual and/or seismic signal transmission. In environments where only one signal could be successfully transmitted （e.g., visual or seismic）, pairs were still able to successfully copulate. Additionally, we found that males altered their courtship display depending on the current signaling environment. Specifically, males reduced their use of a visual display component in signaling environments where visual signal transmission was ablated. Incorporating signals in multiple modalities not only enables R. rabida males to maintain copulation success across variable signaling environments, but it also enables males to adjust their composite courtship display to current signaling conditions .

关 键 词：Communication Multimodal Signal evolution Condition-dependent LYCOSIDAE Rabidosa rabida Efficacy back-up Redundant signals 

分 类 号：TN943[电子电信—信号与信息处理] TN974[电子电信—信息与通信工程]