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Son or daughter, it does not matter: brood parasites do not adjust offspring sex based on their own or host quality

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Abstract

Sex allocation theory posits that parents should adjust offspring sex ratio based on the costs and benefits associated with the production of either sex in a given context. Maternal condition should influence sex ratios when it has sex‐specific impacts on offspring fitness (Trivers–Willard hypothesis) or when rearing costs differ between sons and daughters (cost of reproduction hypothesis). In sexually size-dimorphic species, mothers in good condition are predicted to produce an excess of offspring of the larger sex, whereas mothers in poor condition the opposite. Brood parasites constitute an exciting model for testing sex allocation theory as parasitic females are freed from rearing costs while these costs are covered by the hosts. Here, we investigate the effect of maternal and host quality (both expressed as egg volume and blue-green chroma) on offspring sex allocation in the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) parasitizing the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus). We found no significant effect of parasite egg-laying date and maternal or host quality on sex ratio. One explanation may be that parasitic females, instead of investing in differential sex allocation, invest in securing egg acceptance by the host, by laying non-randomly within a host population to match the appearance of host clutches. Alternatively, male and female parasite eggs do not differ in size suggesting that their production bears comparable costs. This, together with the fact that the whole parental care is covered by the hosts, supports the previous findings that the common cuckoo does not adjust offspring sex ratio.

Zusammenfassung

Sohn oder Tochter – ganz egal: Brutparasiten beeinflussen das Geschlechterverhältnis der Brut nicht durch ihren eigenen Gesamtzustand oder den ihrer Wirte

Die Sex Allocation-Theorie postuliert, dass Eltern das Geschlechterverhältnis ihrer Jungen möglicherweise abhängig davon beeinflussen, wie groß in einem gegebenen Kontext Kosten und Nutzen der Aufzucht eines Geschlechts im Vergleich zum anderen sind. Der Gesamtzustand der Mutter könnte das Geschlechterverhältnis dann beeinflussen, wenn er eine geschlechtsabhängige Auswirkung auf die Fitness der Jungen hätte (Trivers-Willard-Hypothese) oder wenn die Kosten der Aufzucht eines Sohnes unterschiedlich von denen einer Tochter wären (Reproduktionskosten-Hypothese). Bei Arten mit Geschlechtsdimorphismus produzieren gesunde, kräftige Mütter möglicherweise einen Überfluss an Nachkommen des größeren Geschlechts, während Mütter in schlechterer Verfassung das Gegenteil machen. Brutparasiten sind ein interessantes Modell für einen Test der Sex Allocation-Theorie, weil die parasitischen Weibchen keinerlei Aufzuchtkosten zu tragen haben, sondern diese ganz den Wirten überlassen können. Wir untersuchten beim Kuckuck (Cuculus canorus) als Parasit des Drosselrohrsängers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) die Auswirkungen der mütterlichen und der Wirtsqualität (beides ausgedrückt in Ei-Volumen und blau-grünem Farbton) auf die Geschlechterverteilung bei den Jungen und fanden keinen signifikanten Effekt des Eiablagedatums des Parasiten und der Verfassung von Mutter oder Wirt auf die Geschlechterverteilung. Eine Erklärung hierfür mag sein, dass parasitische Weibchen statt in unterschiedliche Geschlechtszuordnungen zu investieren ihre Mittel eher in die Sicherung und Akzeptanz ihrer Eier durch den Wirt stecken und die Eier nicht wahllos innerhalb der Wirtspopulation, sondern in passende Gelege ablegen. Andererseits unterscheiden sich die männlichen und weiblichen Eier der Parasiten nicht in ihrer Größe, was nahelegt, dass ihre Produktionskosten vergleichbar groß sind. Zusammen mit der Tatsache, dass die gesamte elterliche Fürsorge bei den Wirten liegt, unterstützt dies frühere Ergebnisse, nach denen der Kuckuck keinen Einfluss auf das Geschlechterverhältnis seiner Jungen nimmt.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Miroslav Čapek, Marek M. Abraham, Radovan Beňo, Vojtěch Brlík, Lucie Halová, Václav Jelínek, Jaroslav Koleček, Klára Morongová, Boris Prudík, Peter Samaš, Kateřina Sosnovcová, Petra Steidlová, Zuzana Šebelíková for their help with the fieldwork. The managers of the Hodonín Fish Farm have kindly given their permission to field data collection on their land. We are also very grateful to Vladimír Beneš and the EMBL Genomic Core Facility in Heidelberg (Germany) for their kind advice and technical support regarding Illumina sequencing. Computational resources were supplied by the project "e-Infrastruktura CZ" (e-INFRA LM2018140) provided within the program Projects of Large Research, Development and Innovations Infrastructures. We thank Karl Schulze-Hagen and an anonymous referee for their helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.

Funding

This study was funded by the Czech Science Foundation (project 17-12262S) and the Institutional Research Plan (RVO: 68081766).

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  1. Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Květná 8, 603 65, Brno, Czech Republic

    Radka Valterová, Petr Procházka, Milica Požgayová, Radka Piálková, Lubomír Piálek, Michal Šulc & Marcel Honza

  2. Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, České Budějovice, 370 05, Czech Republic

    Radka Piálková & Lubomír Piálek

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  2. Petr Procházka
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  3. Milica Požgayová
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  4. Radka Piálková
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  5. Lubomír Piálek
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Contributions

RV: manuscript writing, statistical analysis, field data collection; PP: manuscript revisions, field data collection; MP: manuscript revisions, field data collection; RP: molecular lab work; LP: bioinformatics analysis; MŠ: field data collection, spectrophotometry; MH: initial study idea, study design and funding. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Petr Procházka.

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Conflicts of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethics approval

This study was carried out with the permission of the regional nature conservation authorities (permit numbers JMK: 115874/2013 and 38506/2016; MUHOCJ: 41433/2012/OŽP, 34437/2014/OŽP, and 14306/2016/OŽP).The fieldwork adhered to the animal care protocol (experimental project numbers 039/2011 AV ČR and 3030/ENV/17-169/630/17) and to the Czech Law on the Protection of Animals against Mistreatment (licence numbers CZ 01272 and CZ 01284). This study was carried out with the permission of the regional nature conservation authorities (permit numbers JMK: 115874/2013 and 38506/2016; MUHOCJ: 41433/2012/OŽP, 34437/2014/OŽP, and 14306/2016/OŽP).

Availability of data and material

The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Code availability

The custom R code generated during the current study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Communicated by F. Bairlein.

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Valterová, R., Procházka, P., Požgayová, M. et al. Son or daughter, it does not matter: brood parasites do not adjust offspring sex based on their own or host quality. J Ornithol 161, 977–986 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-020-01782-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-020-01782-9

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