14: communication

Question 1

list 2 examples of interspecific sexual deception

Answer 1

fly orchid and bee orchid

Question 2

what is the bluegill sunfish example of intraspecific sexual deception

Answer 2

some males mimic females to trick the territorial male

Question 3

what is the bolas spider example of sexual deception

Answer 3

attract male moths by mimicking female moths pheromone

Question 4

on average how does a male increase his fitness

Answer 4

by responding to the signal even if some of the signal is deceptive

Question 5

what does female choice select for and eventually lead to?

Answer 5

male traits that persuade females to mate with them which leads to a coevolutionary arms race between the sexes

Question 6

list 3 examples of species for manipulative display

Answer 6

stalk eyed fly, robin, guppy

Question 7

maynard smith and harper smith and harper 2003 studied animal signals, list the 3 main ways that animal signals may be evolve to be honest and reliable?

Answer 7

1. honest communication due to common interest
2. costly signals
3. honesty due to uncheatability

Question 8

list 3 examples of honest communication due to common interest

Answer 8

• honeybee communication
• long tailed tits
• genetic cues in fire ants
• raven yelling

Question 9

what is an examples of a costly signal

Answer 9

begging chicks

Question 10

in the honeybee communication example what is the difference between the dancer and the dance followers?

Answer 10

• dancer is the forager and signaller

- the dance followers are unemployed foragers and receivers

Question 11

in the long tailed tits helpers assist relatives and what can this allow for?

Answer 11

discrimination of kin from non kin

Question 12

what are long tailed tit calls like? (5)

Answer 12

• individually distinctive
• repeatable
• family specific
• learned from carers
• carry a kinship signal

Question 13

what is the genetic cues in fire ants example for honest communication due to common interests?

Answer 13

green beard genes

• cause phenotypic effect
• permit recognition of itself to other bearers
• causes differential behaviour to bearers

Question 14

in the fire ants what are the genotypes?

Answer 14

• egg laying females are Bb
• Bb females die early
• BB females are killed by Bb workers

Question 15

in winter what do ravens depend on and what signal will they give out?

Answer 15

• large carcasses such as elk/moose

- yell in a deliberate and honest call

Question 16

list the 3 hypotheses for the benefit of raven yelling and which one is correct

Answer 16

• attract carcass opener such as bear and so more ravens too
• selfish herding attracts more ravens in case of predator attack
• overwhelm defence of territory holding ravens- correct

Question 17

what are reasons for why ravens yell due to overwhelm defence of territory holding ravens? (4)

Answer 17

• territory holding ravens dont yell
• non resident ravens yelled to attract other ravens to the carcass
• territory holders could not repel non residents as too many
• carcasses are eaten by 1 or 2 ravens or by many

Question 18

what is honest communication favoured by?

Answer 18

common interests

Question 19

in terms of begging chicks which chicks benefit the most and why?

Answer 19

hungry chicks as for a certain amount of food given their survival increases more than if given to a well fed chick

Question 20

as the need for food increases what happens to begging intensity

Answer 20

it increases

Question 21

begging is costly, when looking at artificial nests and the begging of nesters what was done/found? (5)

Answer 21

• nests more likely predated when begging calls played
• tree nester: black throated blue warbler
• ground nester: oven bird
• tree nesters attract more predators as begging call is louder
• but the predation risk is lower in the trees so they beg louder

Question 22

when looking at the warbler begging calls how did ground nester begging calls compare to tree nesters?

Answer 22

• ground nests are more vulnerable to predation

- so beg at higher frequency as this sound doesnt travel as far

Question 23

a chick aims to maximise its net benefit so what is at this point?

Answer 23

its optimum begging intensity

Question 24

if the same amount of noise is made by both a hungry and well fed chick what does this result in?

Answer 24

• both equally harmful at attracting predators

- hungry chick benefits from the begging more so has higher optimum begging intensity

Question 25

what can keep begging as an honest signal of need

Answer 25

the cost of making the signal

Question 26

what is the relationship between begging and relatedness? (5)

Answer 26

• begging rate is lower in species with less extra pair paternity
• cost for begging reduced
• relatedness is lowered
• lower cost of nest predation to begging chick
• inclusive fitness means not just your cost thats costly but also that of relatives

Question 27

a) how do high quality males compare in terms of survival to low quality?
b) which males have higher mating success?

Answer 27

a) higher

b) ornament display males

Question 28

what can the ornament display be considered, such as a peacock tail?

Answer 28

• honest signal of mate quality

- handicap that only high quality males can afford

Question 29

in toads as an example of uncheatability what is an honest signal thats used and what is it a signal of?

Answer 29

deep calls are an honest signal of male size and attract females and ability to deter rivals

Question 30

in the toads what is the result of a higher frequency call?

Answer 30

more likely attacked by another male

Question 31

why may species try to look as large as possible?

Answer 31

large size is correlated with fighting ability and fecundity in females

Question 32

cheating body size is possible up until a point- give 4 examples of how animals do this

Answer 32

• inflate abdomen
• puff out chest
• make hair stand on end
• elongate larynx to make deeper call

Question 33

in some spiders what are contests decided by and what can the resident spider tell?

Answer 33

body size

can tell weight of an intruder based on its effect on the web

Question 34

in terms of communication what will selection often favour?

Answer 34

deceptive communication and evolutionary arms race