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SEXUAL SELECTION AND THE EVOLUTION OF DANCE FLY MATING SYSTEMS (DIPTERA: EMPIDIDAE; EMPIDINAE)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

J.M. Cumming
J.M. Cumming
Affiliation:
Biological Resources Division, Centre for Land and Biological Resources Research, Agriculture Canada, Research Branch, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0C6
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Abstract

Courtship displays of empidine dance flies (Diptera: Empididae), which include transfers of nuptial gifts during mating, are reviewed in light of sexual selection theory. Sex-role reversed courtship behavior, involving female swarming and male choice, appears to be correlated with certain female secondary sexual characters that are widespread throughout the Empidinae. The tendency to shift mate choice from females to males, and the apparent development of autogeny in many empidine species, are both hypothesized to have resulted from males monopolizing the proteinaceous food source of non-hunting females, through transfers of nuptial gifts of prey. The autogenous condition appears to have led to the ritualized presentation of various types of inedible nuptial gifts by males of several species, possibly including the development of secreted nuptial gifts, or balloons, as displays of male fitness.

Résumé

Les manifestations associées au comportement de cour chez les Empidinae (Diptera : Empididae), notamment l’échange de cadeaux nuptiaux au cours de l’accouplement, sont examinées à la lumière de la théorie de la sélection sexuelle. Le renversement des comportements de cour, en particulier la danse des femelles et le choix d’un partenaire par les mâles plutôt que par les femelles, semble relié à certains caractères sexuels secondaires des femelles communs à beaucoup d’espèces d’Empidinae. Le choix d’un partenaire par les mâles plutôt que par les femelles et l’apparition présumée de l’autogénie chez plusieurs espèces d’Empidinae sont peut-être le résultat de la prise en charge, par les mâles, de la source alimentaire protéinée des femelles non chasseresses, par échange de cadeaux nuptiaux de proies. L’autogénie semble avoir donné lieu à la présentation rituelle de divers types de cadeaux nuptiaux non comestibles par les mâles de plusieurs espèces, y compris les cadeaux nuptiaux sous forme de sécrétions, ou ballons, comme preuves de leur fitness.

[Traduit par la Rédaction]

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 126 , Issue 3 , June 1994 , pp. 907 - 920
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1994

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