Vol. 59, 2020

(update: 2020.03.08; 04.16)
 

Individual Heterozygosity Influences Arrival Times and Mating Success of Male Red-Breasted Flycatchers Ficedula parva

Cezary Mitrus^1,*, Joanna Mitrus², and Robert Rutkowski³

¹Department of Vertebrate Ecology and Paleontology, Institute of Biology, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Chełmońskiego 38c, 51-631 Wrocław, Poland. *Correspondence: Tel: +4871320590. E-mail: cezary.mitrus@upwr.edu.pl (C. Mitrus)
²Department of Plant Physiology and Genetics, Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities, Prusa 12, 08-110 Siedlce, Poland. E-mail: mitrus@uph.edu.pl (J. Mitrus)
³Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wilcza 64, 00-679 Warsaw, Poland. E-mail: robertrut@miiz.waw.pl (Rutkowski)

Received 13 June 2019 / Accepted 22 January 2020
Communicated by Chih-Ming Hung

We examined the relationship between individual heterozygosity of male Red-breasted Flycatchers (Ficedula parva; a small long-distance migratory, socially monogamous bird species) and their mating success, arrival time and age. Using eight polymorphic microsatellite loci, we found that male heterozygosity is related to both mating success and arrival time, but not to age. Mated and earlier arriving males had higher heterozygosity than later arrivals and bachelors, but we did not find a relationship between age and individual heterozygosity of males. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide evidence about the relationship between individual genetic diversity and arrival time, thus arrival time could be used as a signal of individual heterozygosity and quality.

Key words: Multi-locus heterozygosity, Mate choice, Arrival time, Birds.

Citation: Mitrus C, Mitrus J, Rutkowski R. 2020. Individual heterozygosity influences arrival times and mating success of male red-breasted flycatchers Ficedula parva. Zool Stud 59:12. doi:10.6620/ZS.2020.59-12.