Exam 8: Principles of Communication

The elbow orchid sends a deceitful signal to a male wasp, who will sometimes mistakenly fly to the orchid, mistaking it for a female. Why does this maladaptive male response persist, despite the costs it incurs in time and energy?

A spider researcher, Pia Stålhandske, knew that males of Pisaura mirabilis offer their mates a nuptial gift-a prey item, such as a cricket-whose acceptance by the female is critical for male mating success. Males wrap their generally dark-colored food gifts in white silk. Stålhandske wondered if the males wrapped their gifts to make them look like the white, silk-covered egg sacs that mated females make and protect by holding them in their jaws until the spiderlings hatch. Which prediction might Stålhandske have felt could be correct, given her presumption that males might be making their nuptial gifts look like egg sacs?