Effects of mismatched mate availability cues on reproductive investment in female crickets

Animals use cues experienced during early life to adaptively adjust their phenotype to the social environment they will likely experience. However, since animals often use multiple cues to assess the social environment, what happens if cues provide mismatched information? We examined the effects of mismatched cues of mate availability on behaviour and reproductive investment in female Pacific field crickets ( Teleogryllus oceanicus (Le Guillou, 1841))—a species that naturally encounters mismatched cues of mate availability due to the presence of singing and nonsinging male morphs in Hawaiian populations. In our experiment, females experienced either matched or mismatched acoustic cues (male song) and nonacoustic cues (physical presence of males) of mate availability during development. Mismatched cues did not affect female behaviour—females took longer to respond to male signals after experiencing cues of high mate availability regardless of whether or not acoustic and nonacoustic cues matched. However, mismatched cues did influence reproductive investment: females developed heavier ovaries only when both acoustic and nonacoustic cues indicated high mate availability.