Female preference for multiple partners: sperm competition in the hide beetle, Dermestes maculatus (DeGeer)

Archer, Melanie S.; Elgar, Mark A.

doi:10.1006/anbe.1999.1172

Cited by 69 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…While males initiated a large number of copulations, females approached males in one-third of cases and were also able to reject a male by walking away prior to physical contact or throwing him off her back following a copulation attempt. These patterns of female behaviour agree with previous findings on female preferences in the hide beetle (Archer & Elgar 1999). A further point to note is that male hide beetles possess a pheromone gland, a probable secondary sexual trait, which elicits a strong behavioural response in females (Abdel-Kader & Barak 1979).…”

Section: (B) Mechanism Of Choicesupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Following mating, females were placed in a fresh plastic rearing container, supplied with a piece of synthetic fur (20 mm 2 ), fresh pigs' liver (10 mm 3 ) and a water-soaked piece of sponge (10 mm 3 ), and permitted to oviposit for 6 days. During this period the fur was changed every 2 days to minimize cannibalism by earlier hatched larvae (Archer & Elgar 1999). The numbers of eggs laid and fertilized by each female were recorded.…”

Section: (Ii) Fertilization Trialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The numbers of eggs laid and fertilized by each female were recorded. The proportion of fertile eggs, determined by the presence of an eye-spot 3 days after oviposition (Archer & Elgar 1999), was calculated from these data.…”

Section: (Ii) Fertilization Trialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the laboratory, both males and females mate multiply and females commence oviposition within 24 h following their first mating (n = 27 females; R. Featherston, personal communication). Females are capable of ovipositing continuously throughout their four-to-six-month lifespan and will, given the opportunity, remate (Archer & Elgar 1999). Although males frequently initiate matings (K. B. McNamara, unpublished data), females exhibit some degree of choice and can reject unwanted copulation attempts by either walking away or throwing a male off her back (Archer & Elgar 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of male age, sperm age and mating history on fecundity and fertilization success in the hide beetle

Jones¹,

Elgar

2004

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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116

107

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Models of age-related mate choice predict female preference for older males as they have proven survival ability. However, these models rarely address differences in sperm age and male mating history when evaluating the potential benefits to females from older partners. We used a novel experimental design to assess simultaneously the relative importance of these three parameters in the hide beetle, Dermestes maculatus. In a two-part experiment we first explored age-related male mating success and subsequently examined the consequences of male age, sperm age and male mating history on female fecundity and fertilization success. In a competitive mating environment, intermediate-age males gained significantly higher mating success than younger or older males. To test the consequences for females of aged-related male mating success, a second set of females were mated to males varying in age (young, intermediateage and old), in numbers of matings and in timing of the most recent mating. We found that male age had a significant impact on female fecundity and fertilization success. Females mated to intermediate-age males laid more eggs and attained consistently higher levels of fertilization success than females with young and old mates. A male's previous mating history determined his current reproductive effort; virgin males spent longer in copula than males with prior mating opportunities. However, differences in copulation duration did not translate into increased fecundity or fertilization success. There was also little evidence to suggest that fertilization success was dependent on the age of a male's sperm. The experiment highlights the potential direct benefits accrued by females through mating with particular aged males. Such benefits are largely ignored by traditional viability models of age-related male mating success.

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Section: (B) Mechanism Of Choicesupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: (Ii) Fertilization Trialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (Ii) Fertilization Trialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The role of male age, sperm age and mating history on fecundity and fertilization success in the hide beetle

Jones¹,

Elgar

2004

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

Self Cite

116

107

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As behavioural ecologists increasingly recognize the importance of considering reproduction from the female perspective (Gowaty 1997;Hrdy 1999), evidence is accumulating that polyandry is an active mating strategy (Bateman 1998;Zeh et al 1998;Archer & Elgar 1999) that significantly enhances female reproductive success (reviewed in Jennions & Petrie 2000; also see Kempenaers et al 1999;Newcomer et al 1999). A variety of hypotheses have been proposed to explain why selection should favour the evolution of polyandry, and these fall into two broad but distinct categories of material and genetic benefits (see Eberhard 1996;Reynolds 1996;Zeh & Zeh 1996Jennions & Petrie 2000).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%