Diet influences female signal reliability for male mate choice

Abstract

Pheromones, arguably the most ubiquitous mode of animal communication, are determined by both genetic and environmental factors. Recent evidence suggests that diet may be an important determinant of pheromone variation, which may both enhance and reduce the reliability of the chemical signal. We investigated experimentally the impact of population origin and diet on chemical signals used in mate assessment by monogynous males of the golden-banded orb web spider, Argiope trifasciata. Initial mate preference experiments revealed environmentally determined fine scaling of male mate choice: shortly after their introduction into the laboratory, male spiders preferred females from either their own..