Female preference

Andersson, S. 1992. Female preference for long tails in lekking Jackson s widowbirds Experimental evidence. Anim. Behav. 43 379-388. 

Little, A. C., Burt, D. M., Penton-Voak, I. and Perrett, D. I. (2001) Self-perceived attractiveness influences human female preferences for sexual dimorphism and symmetry in male faces. P. Roy. Soc. Lond. B Bio. 268, 39 14. 

Basolo, A.L. and Trainor, B.C. (2002) The conformation of a female preference for a composite male trait in green swordtails. Anim. Behav. 63, 469-474 Bradbury, J.W. and Emmons, L. (1974) Social organisation of some Trinidad bats I. Emballonuri-... 

Johnston, R.E., Sorokin, E.S. and Ferkin, M.H. (1997b) Scent counter-marking by male meadow voles females prefer the top-scent male. Ethology 103, 443 53. 

After dominance is established, the dominant male occupies a "preferred" large shelter which becomes a focus of social interactions. Mature, premolt females visit frequently (31,32). For cohabitation and subsequent mating, females in naturalistic aquaria chose the dominant male over subdominants (31). In choice tests females prefer larger dominant males (23). Females make these behavioral decisions both from a distance and at the shelter entrance. Discrimination by females is lost when males are catheterized and can be regained when that male s urine is artificially released near the male (23). Thus, male urine cues for female choice are implied but have not been identified. 

F erkin and Johnston (1995 a) aged anogenital area scent and odor from the posterolateral region in meadow voles Micmtuspennsylvanicus) for 15 minutes to 30 days. Males preferred female to male anogenital odor if it was 10 days old or less. Females preferred male to female anogenital odor if its age was 25 days or less. Both sexes preferred posterolateral odor of males to that of females if it was up to 1 day of age. In a second experiment, both sexes preferred fresh odors from either source over the same scents that were older. In conclusion, information about sex may get lost with the age of the scent mark. 

Freshwater turtles home to their pond when experimentally displaced. Painted turtles, Chrysemyspicta, homed from 100 m, but not from 1.6 km (Emlen, 1969). They use chemical cues painted turtles discriminate chemical cues from their home ponds and other ponds. Males and females prefer water from their home pond to that from other ponds (Quinn and Graves, 1998). The Eastern long-necked turtle, Chelodina longicolUs, of southestern Australia uses solar cues during migration between a permanent lake and an ephemeral swamp, as... 

Mole rats of the superspecies Spalax ehrenbergi occur in four main chromosome forms 2n = 52, 54, 58, and 60. Females of two of these forms (52 and 58) were given choices between soiled bedding (or urine) from males of a homochromoso-mal or a heterochromosomal form. The females were estrous or diestrous. Only estrous females preferred soiled bedding and urine of homochromosomal males, measured in time spent near the odor samples. Diestrous females showed no preference (Nevo etal, 1976). 

Mauremys leprosa, are attracted to water from females, while females prefer water from other females. Outside the mating season, both females and males avoid water with cues from the opposite sex (Mufioz, 2004). 

Moore, A. J. (1988). Female preferences, male social status, and sexual selection in Nauphoeta cinerea. Animal Behaviour 36 303-305. 

These ideas can now be backed up by experimental work. I will illustrate this by my own work using the stalk-eyed fly Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni. Males of this species have greatly exaggerated eyespan and females prefer to mate with males with wider eyespan (Wilkinson Reillo 1994). Fortunately the flies are easy to rear in large numbers under controlled laboratory conditions. We tested whether the size of the... 

Johnstone, R.A. (1994) Female preference for symmetrical males as a by-product of selection for mate recognition. Nature 372 172-175. 

Hebets EA, Vink CJ (2007) Experience leads to preference experienced females prefer brushlegged males in a population of syntopic wolf spiders. Behav Ecol 18 1010-1020... 

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