Logo image
Back
Sperm competition selects for male mate choice and protandry in the bushcricket, Requena verticalis (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Sperm competition selects for male mate choice and protandry in the bushcricket, Requena verticalis (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)

L.W. Simmons, T. Llorens, M. Schinzig, D. Hosken and M. Craig
Animal Behaviour, Vol.47(1), pp.117-122
1994
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1994.1013
url
Link to Published Version *Subscription may be requiredView

Abstract

Males of the bushcricket, Requena verticalis, contribute parental investment at mating via a nutrient-rich spermatophore. Because the first male to mate has a high confidence of paternity, subsequent males have their investment cuckolded. The effects of first male sperm precedence on male mate choice and protandry were investigated. Males were equally likely to mate with virgin and non-virgin females during mating trials. However, they could discriminate on the basis of female age and mated preferentially with young females in laboratory trials and in the field. By using age as a cue, males increase the probability of rejecting non-virgin females, thereby reducing the risks of cuckoldry. It is argued that failure to recognize non-virgins per se may have arisen by sexual conflict over mating, and that the high degree of protandry is an adaptive strategy by males to mate with their preferred young females and enhance their confidence of paternity.

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#15 Life on Land

Source: InCites

Metrics

19 Record Views
72 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Citation topics
3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
3.35 Zoology & Animal Ecology
3.35.434 Sexual Selection
Web Of Science research areas
Behavioral Sciences
Zoology
ESI research areas
Plant & Animal Science
Logo image