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Despite mating representing a mutual interaction, the study of mate
preferences has long focussed on choice in one sex and on the preferred
traits in the other. This has certainly been true in the study of the
costs and condition-dependent expression of mating preferences, with the
majority of studies concerning female preference. The condition-dependence
and genetic architecture of mutual mate preferences remain largely
unstudied, despite their likely relevance for the evolution of preferences
and of mating behavior more generally. Here, we measured (i) male and
female mate preferences and (ii) intersexual genetic correlations for the
mating activity in pedigreed populations of southern field crickets
(Gryllus bimaculatus) raised on a favourable (free-choice) or stressful
(protein-deprived) diet. In the favourable dietary environment, mutual
mate preferences were strong, and the intersexual genetic covariance for
mating activity was not different from one. However, in the stressful
dietary environment, mutual mate preferences were weak, and the
intersexual genetic covariance for mating activity was significantly
smaller than one. Altogether, our results show that diet environments
affect the expression of genetic variation in mating behaviors: (i) the
strength of mutual mate preference and (ii) intersexual genetic covariance
for mating activity tend to be weaker when environment is stressful. This
implies that mating dynamics strongly vary across environments.
320 views reported since publication in 2019.