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Juvenile hormone favors sexually-selected traits but impairs fat reserves and abdomen mass in males and females

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Abstract

The physiological mechanism underlying resource allocation in sexual selection studies has been little studied. One candidate is hormones as these favor resource allocation to reproductive traits but impair survival due to a resource over-expenditure directed to the former traits. We have investigated whether a juvenile hormone analog (JHa, methoprene) administrated topically is involved in the resource allocation to wing pigmentation (an ornamental trait), fat reserves and flight muscle mass in both sexes of Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis and C. virgo. We also investigated the possible negative effect of such implementation on abdomen mass (an indirect measure of egg production) and field-based survival in adult males of C. haemorrhoidalis and C. splendens. We found that males and females treated with JHa, against a control group, developed higher wing pigmentation and showed reduced fat reserves but had no change in muscle mass. In females, JHa decreased abdominal weight (an indicator of fecundity) and in males, survival was impaired only in C. splendens. These results support the idea that JH induces resource allocation to wing pigmentation, a sexually selected trait in both sexes. Thus, this study suggests that the action of JH could be a mechanistic link between ornaments and physiological condition in both males and females.

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Acknowledgments

Two anonymous reviewers improved the manuscript. One in particular suggested exploring the two way interactions of table 1a. M. Rantala and T. Flatt made important comments that improved our discussion. AC-A was supported by two PAPIIT-UNAM grants (IN212506 and IN216808). ACR was funded by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (CGL2005-00122 and CGL2008-02799) and travel grants from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and Xunta de Galicia (2006) and University of Vigo (2008). To R. I. Martínez-Becerril and G. I. Ruiz-Guzmán for logistic support. B. González Patchen improved grammar use and style.

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  1. Departamento de Biología, División de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Universidad de Guanajuato, Campus Guanajuato, Noria Alta s/n, Noria Alta, 36050, Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico

    Jorge Contreras-Garduño

  2. Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apdo. Postal 70-275, 04510, Mexico, D. F., Mexico

    Alex Córdoba-Aguilar

  3. Grupo de Ecoloxía e da Conservación, Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Universidade de Vigo, E. U. E. T. Forestal, Campus Universitario, 36005, Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain

    Mónica Azpilicueta-Amorín & Adolfo Cordero-Rivera

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  1. Jorge Contreras-Garduño
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  2. Alex Córdoba-Aguilar
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Correspondence to Jorge Contreras-Garduño.

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Contreras-Garduño, J., Córdoba-Aguilar, A., Azpilicueta-Amorín, M. et al. Juvenile hormone favors sexually-selected traits but impairs fat reserves and abdomen mass in males and females. Evol Ecol 25, 845–856 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-010-9438-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-010-9438-6

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