Cryptic female choice and sexual conflict

Abstract

Females may choose their male mates. However, both sexes may engage in a kind of dispute not to be coerced into mating (for females) and to be chosen (for males). These two hypotheses (called female choice and sexual conflict, respectively) are currently in vogue in studies of sexual reproduction. This chapter highlights some instances where both can be tested in odonates. These instances are: during copula invitation by males, for the duration of copulation, and during the male post-copulatory displays preceding and during oviposition. There are four other aspects that may be investigated to see the prevalence of each hypothesis: the differences of genitalic diversity across populations, the genitalic complexity at the multiple species level, the female benefits when mating with ‘attractive’ males, and the costs to evade superfluous matings.

Limited spermathecal sperm removal ability in the damselflyHypolestes trinitatis(Gundlach) (Odonata: Megapodagrionidae)

“…However, these structures apparently do not have access to the spermatheca, since the sperm volume in this organ was similar for one-copulation females and for those interrupted at the end of stage I. This limited ability to remove spermathecal sperm has been previously found in some other odonates, such as the coenagrionids Ischnura elegans (Miller, 1987), and Ceriagrion tenellum (Andrés & Cordero-Rivera, 2000), and the calopterygids Mnais pruinosa (Siva-Jothy & Tsubaki, 1989;Tsuchiya & Hayashi, 2008) where females regain this control by impeding males from removing sperm from these organs (Córdoba-Aguilar & Cordero-Rivera, 2008). In this context, it is interesting to note that males of Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis asturica from Pontevedra, north-western Spain do not have access to the spermathecae, but the ejection of the rival sperm is induced by stimulation of the vaginal sensilla (Córdoba-Aguilar, 1999).…”

“…Direct removal of sperm from the female reproductive tract by means of male specialized genital structures is a widespread mechanism in Odonata (Córdoba-Aguilar & Cordero-Rivera, 2008;Córdoba-Aguilar et al, 2003), although it has been observed in several other orders of insects, such as the Dermaptera, Orthoptera and Coleoptera (Haubruge et al, 1999;Helversen & Helversen, 1991;Kamimura, 2000;Ono et al, 1989;Yokoi, 1990), and even in a cuttlefish (Wada et al, 2005), which suggests this might be a widespread phenomenon. Before sperm transference is achieved, male odonates remove rival ejaculates stored by the female from previous matings (Cordero & Miller, 1992;Waage, 1979).…”

Strong Asymmetry in the Relative Strengths of Prezygotic and Postzygotic Barriers Between Two Damselfly Sister Species

“…Many males in the order Odonata are able to remove sperm (Córdoba‐Aguilar and Cordero‐Rivera 2009), and I. graellsii and I. elegans can access and remove stored sperm from the bursa (Miller 1987a, b; Cordero and Miller 1992), and in I. graellsii also from the spermatheca (Cordero and Miller 1992). We were able to corroborate these results for the bursa, but the findings were less clear for the spermatheca (Fig.…”

Sex‐specific repeatabilities and effects of relatedness and mating status on copulation duration in an acridid grasshopper

“…Under the assumption that males can sense female mating status, prolonged nonvirgin copulation durations may thus represent a male adaptation to sperm competition and several possible mechanisms are conceivable. For example, mechanical sperm removal has been shown in insects (e.g., in dragonflies (Córdoba-Aguilar & Cordero-Rivera, 2008;Waage, 1979), in a beetle (Gage, 1992) and in the bush-cricket Metaplastes ornatus (von Helversen & von Helversen, 1991)) which could be time-consuming and thus explain longer copulation duration in matings with already mated as compared to virgin females. Furthermore, sperm removal by flushing sperm of a previous male from the female sperm storage organ with its own ejaculate (Danielsson, 1998) has been suggested as a possible mechanism in the tree cricket Truljalia hibinonis (Ono, Siva-Jothy, & Kato, 1989).…”