The effect of male-male competition and information availability on the courtship and copulatory behavior of the wolf spider <i>Schizocosa ocreata</i> (Araneae: Lycosidae) The effect of male-male competition and information availability on the courtship and copulatory behavior of the wolf spider Schizocosa ocreata (Araneae: Lycosidae)
We measured the effect and interaction of male-male competition and differential access to information about female mating status (presence/absence of pheromone-laden female silk) on male courtship latency, courtship intensity, mating success, and copulation duration.� We created six treatments utilizing combinations of the presence or absence of a second "spectator" male and the presence or absence of pheromone-laden female silk.� Within 30-minute trials (N = 86 trials), the second male "spectator" was physically isolated from the female via a transparent barrier but received visual and seismic cues in all trials and chemical cues from the female in some treatments. If male-male competition mediates courtship and mating behavior, we expected that the presence of a second male would decrease courtship latency, increase courtship intensity, and increase copulation duration compared to treatments without an additional male. Further, second males that have access to silk and visual/seismic information about females would court more vigorously and for a longer period of time.� This would induce higher courtship rates and copulation duration among males with direct access to the female.� We found that in general, female advertisements toward males via silk had a much larger impact on male and perhaps female behavior than the presence of a spectator male.� However, we found evidence that when spectator males also had access to female silk, this had a significant priming or synergistic effect on the other male's behavior across some treatments resulting in increased copulation duration, increased courtship intensity, and shorter latency to court.
