Sexual behavior of the digger wasp Sphex ingens Smith (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae)

Antennation and sexual performance of male digger waspsSphex ingensSmith (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

“…In male Sphex ingens, the antennation comprised a rhythmic behaviour of antennae (alternate or simultaneous movements) that started after the mount and persisted during the pre-copulation and copulation phases through touches on the head or antennae of females. Hence, in part we corroborated the descriptions by Souza et al (2015), though we did not observe any other behaviour attributed to courtship preceding mount (i.e. stimuli such as movements of legs and mouth parts and wing fanning).…”

“…Certainly, all males gave their best to have the best result during copulation. In S. ingens, the difficulty and stress imposed by interand intra-sexual conflicts during mating (see Souza et al 2015) together with the maintenance of multiple copulations require high energy investment and increase physical wearing. Hence, it is likely that the recovery time in the post-copulation phase influences individual performance, and, consequently, the subsequent copulation status in males.…”

“…We analysed only the couples undergoing the pre-copulation and copulation phases (Souza et al 2015). We assessed the influence of antennation on the sexual performance of males in complete copulation attempts (from the intromission of the aedeagus and the practice of the connubium, regardless of copulation outcomesuccessful or unsuccessful).…”

“…In addition, its behavioural repertoire is characterised by a different time investment among mating phases. Antennation was the most frequently observed behaviour and was restricted to the pre-copulation and copulation phases (see Souza et al 2015).…”

“…However, Souza et al (2015), based on a probabilistic model, suggested that the antennation behaviour observed in males does not affect S. ingens mating. In particular, the copulation success (or mate selection) is not affected, as the results of the transition of agonistic behaviours in females were the most significant (i.e.…”