Meeting Abstract
Leader preference, a female mating preference for males producing their calls ahead of their neighbors, is common in acoustically communicating insects and anurans. While this preference is taxonomically widespread and well-studied, the evolutionary origins remain unclear. We tested whether females gain a fitness benefit by mating with leading males in the katydid Neoconocephalus ensiger. We mated leading and following males with random females and measured the number and quality of F1, the number of F¬2, and the heritability of the producing leading calls. Females mated with leaders and followers did not differ in the number of F1 or F2 produced. However, females mated with leading males produced larger offspring than those mating with following males, suggesting a benefit of mating with leading males. We found no evidence that the male trait, the ability to produce leading calls, was heritable. This suggests that there is no genetic correlate for leadership ability and that the fitness benefit gained by females must be a direct benefit, potentially mediated by seminal proteins. The presence of benefits indicates that leader preference is selected for in N. ensiger, which may explain the evolutionary origin of leader preference in N. ensiger. Because the ability to produce leading calls was not heritable, leader preference will not become coupled with or lead to the exaggeration of this trait. This also prevents females from gaining a ‘sexy-sons’ benefit, weakening the overall selection for leader preference.
