Recent interest in male mate choice has prompted a re-examination of widely held beliefs regarding sex roles in animal mating systems. It is now known that males can be choosy based on female quality, but studies which directly compare aspects of female quality and their influence on male mate choice are relatively rare. The brush-legged wolf spider Schizocosa ocreata (Hentz) has a well-studied male courtship display, which shows evidence of male mate choice based on female mating history and foraging history, as well as possible effects of experience and rearing environment. This makes it an excellent system to compare the importance of these two female states and examine how the choice patterns they give rise to may be influenced by the environment. By examining male courtship and female behavior under different circumstances and across environmental experience conditions, the relative effects of these factors can be inferred. Evidence collected in this study suggests that female mating status is the dominant predictor of mate choice, with males generally courting virgin females more vigorously regardless of context, as well as females showing higher levels of receptivity when unmated. An important exception to this trend is seen in field-reared males and their female partners, who show less behavioral differences based on female state, suggesting that this preference is not static and may be influenced by experience.
Female Playback Experiment
Behavioral data collected from "Female Silk Experiment." For female states, "v" = virgin, "m" = mated, "f" = fed, and "s" = starved (referred to as "deprived" in manuscript). "LatencyOrient" = the time elapsed before first orient toward stimulus with "LatOrientCensor" as a censor where 1 represents a trial with recorded orient behaviors (values of 301 indicate behavior did not occur in the 300 second trial). "LatReceptivity" = the time elapsed before first receptivity display with "LatRecCensor" as a censor where 1 represents a trial with recorded receptivity behaviors (values of 301 indicate behavior did not occur in the 300 second trial). "LatRecFromOrient" = the time elapsed between first orient and first receptivity display with "LTRFFOcensor" as a censor where 1 represents a trial with recorded receptivity after orient behaviors (values of 301 indicate behavior did not occur in the 300 second trial). "Pivot," "Settle," and "TLE" are individual components of female receptivity displays. "ReceptivitySum" is the sum of those three displays and "ReceptivityRate" is that sum divided by 300 seconds (trial length). "AssociationTime" is the length of time, in seconds, that a female was associated with the stimulus (defined by presence on top of disc bender or with body directly in front of screen). "AssociationCensor" is a censor where 1 represents a trial where a female interacted with the stimulus.
Live Mating Experiment
Behavioral data collected from "Live Mating Experiment." For female states, "v" = virgin, "m" = mated, "f" = fed, and "s" = starved (referred to as "deprived" in manuscript). "LatOrient" = the time elapsed before first female orient toward male with "FemaleOrientCensor" as a censor where 1 represents a trial with recorded orient behaviors (values of 301 indicate behavior did not occur in the 300 second trial). "LatRec" = the time elapsed before first female receptivity display with "FemRecCensor" as a censor where 1 represents a trial with recorded receptivity behaviors (values of 301 indicate behavior did not occur in the 300 second trial). "LatCourt" = the time elapsed before first male courtship display with "MaleCourtCensor" as a censor where 1 represents a trial with recorded courtship behaviors (values of 301 indicate behavior did not occur in the 300 second trial). "LatCop" = the time elapsed before copulation with "CopCensor" as a censor where 1 represents a trial with recorded copulation (values of 301 indicate behavior did not occur in the 300 second trial). "Pivot," "Settle," and "TLE" are individual components of female receptivity displays. "TotalRec" is the sum of those three displays. “Strikes” and “Bouts” are individual components of male courtship displays and “spb” is the number of strikes per bout. “TrialLength” is the total time elapsed between introduction of the male and A) expiration of time, B) cannibalism, or C) copulation. “LengthFromCourt” is the time elapsed between the end of the trial and the beginning of the male’s first courtship display.
Silk Experiment
Behavioral data collected from "Male Courtship on Female Silk Experiment." For female states, "v" = virgin, "m" = mated, "f" = fed, and "s" = starved (referred to as "deprived" in manuscript). "Latency" = the time elapsed before first male courtship display with "CourtshipCensor" as a censor where 1 represents a trial with recorded courtship behaviors (values of 301 indicate behavior did not occur in the 300 second trial). “Strikes” and “Bouts” are individual components of male courtship displays and “spb” is the number of strikes per bout.
