Female sexual receptivity and male copula guarding during prolonged copulations in the damselflyIschnura senegalensis (Odonata:Coenagrionidae)

Sawada, Kouji

doi:10.1007/bf02769294

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Stage I (Fig. 1) is the longer and more variable phase of copulation (Miller, 1987a;Cordero, 1990;Córdoba-Aguilar, 1992;Sawada, 1995;Cordero & Andrés, 1999). The evidence from numerous species indicates that males displace sperm during this stage and inseminate during stage II (and sometimes also during stage III, Corbet, 1999).…”

Section: Generalities Of Copulation In Odonatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sperm competition in Odonata (Insecta): the evolution of female sperm storage and rivals' sperm displacement

2003

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Odonates (dragonflies) are well known for the ability of the males to displace sperm stored in the female's spermstorage organs during copulation. By this means, copulating males are able to increase their fertilization success. This ability has been used as an example to illustrate a conflict of interests between the sexes in which males have evolved sperm-displacement mechanisms whilst females have presumably evolved means to avoid sperm displacement. The present review has four aims: (1) to describe the copulatory mechanisms used during sperm displacement; (2) to analyse the causes of sperm usage patterns; (3) to discuss this information using current hypotheses on conflict between the sexes; (4) to illuminate topics for further research. Four copulatory mechanisms are described: sperm removal (physical withdrawal of stored sperm), sperm repositioning ('pushing' of rival sperm to sites where its use will be least likely), female sensory stimulation to induce sperm ejection, and sperm flushing (displacement of sperm using the copulating male's sperm). Sperm-precedence studies in Odonata are scarce and their values vary considerably between species. In those species in which sperm displacement is incomplete, the last copulating male obtains a high but variable short-term fertilization success which decreases with time. Some male and female factors affecting sperm precedence patterns are mentioned: (1) male variation in genital morphology; (2) duration of copulation influenced by the male (the longer the copulation, the more stored sperm displaced); (3) adaptations of the sperm-storage organs that allow the female to manipulate the sperm she has received (i.e. avoiding sperm displacement, re-distributing sperm masses, favouring sperm located in certain sites and ejecting sperm after copulation). We suggest that male and female odonates have co-evolved at the level of genital function with the control of stored sperm as the focus of the conflict. The benefits for males in this co-evolution lie in maximizing their fertilization success. However, it is not clear what females obtain from storing sperm and making it unreachable during sperm displacement. Two hypothetical benefits that females may obtain for which some evidence has been gathered are genetic diversity and viability genes. It is finally suggested that odonates can become excellent subjects of study for testing current ideas related to sexual conflict and speciation processes through sexual selection.

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Section: Generalities Of Copulation In Odonatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sperm competition in Odonata (Insecta): the evolution of female sperm storage and rivals' sperm displacement

2003

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“…Copulations lasted about 20–30 min, a time comparable to other Ischnura species that apparently mate only once or very few times like Ischnura aurora (Rowe, 1978), or other coenagrionids of similar size (Guillermo‐Ferreira & Del‐Claro, 2012), but shorter than the monogamous I. verticalis , whose matings last around 40 min (Fincke, 1987). Polyandrous Ischnura mate for 1–6 h (Miller, 1987; Cordero, 1989, 1990; Cordero‐Rivera & Andrés Abad, 1999; Sawada, 1999; Naraoka, 2011; Huang et al, 2012; de Almeida et al, 2018). These patterns add further support to the hypothesis of a correlation between life‐history traits and behaviour in the genus Ischnura (Robinson & Allgeyer, 1996; Sánchez‐Guillén et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual conflict and the evolution of monandry: The case of the damselfly Ischnura hastata (Odonata: Coenagrionidae) in the Galápagos Islands

Cordero‐Rivera

Rivas‐Torres

Encalada

et al. 2023

Ecological Entomology

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Sexual selection favours the evolution and maintenance of polygamy, which is the dominant reproductive strategy in insects. Monogamy can evolve in very short‐lived species due to time constraints. Here we study adult activity and mating behaviour of a population of the damselfly Ischnura hastata, a species rarely seen mating, and which has been suggested to be monandric, in wetlands of Isabela Island, Galápagos. By means of mark‐recapture methods, we estimated that the daily survival rate was low, ranging from 0.385 to 0.876, yielding average life expectancies of mature individuals of only 1.2–3.2 days. Adults showed very low activity before 7:00, indicating that mating does not occur early. The number of male–female interactions and mating attempts was extremely low, with only 44 copulations recorded on over 230 h of observations. Copulations were brief, with a mean duration of 11 min (but only two were observed from the start). Males showed clear preference to attempt to grasp in tandem females of intermediate age (in 94.3% of cases), rather than young (31.3%) or mature females (24.0%). Males were very persistent once a tandem was achieved, retaining females for up to 139 min, but most females resisted and did not copulate. We conclude that females of I. hastata show a very short time window to mate, exactly when they change colour from juvenile to mature, and live only enough to mate once. Short lifespan has selected for female monandry in I. hastata, creating an intense sexual conflict over mating rates.

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“…Daily reproductive output, which is affected by time limitation within a day, is important for overall lifetime reproductive success (Banks & Thompson 1987). In some coenagrionid damselflies, copulation lasts for several hours, thereby reducing the time available for oviposition and foraging activities of females (Robertson 1985; Sawada 1999). The prolonged copulation may decrease daily reproductive output in females because females require several hours to lay all of the loaded eggs after the copulation activity (Takahashi & Watanabe 2010a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time constraints related to sexual maturation and prolonged copulation in the female‐dimorphic damselfly Ischnura senegalensis

Takahashi

Watanabe

2012

Entomological Science

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Time constraints are critical for reproductive success. To understand the spatiotemporal dynamics of morph frequency in the female‐dimorphic damselfly Ischnura senegalensis, we compared two different morphs for two important time constraints on female reproductive output, i.e. post‐emergence sexual maturation and prolonged copulation. The females of both morphs achieved sexual maturation 4–5 days after emergence, suggesting that the rate of sexual mutation does not result in morph‐specific fitness. The copulation durations declined with the time of onset of copulation in both morphs. Consequently, all copulations terminated at approximately 12:00 hours. Because females show foraging and oviposition activity only after copulation, the copulation duration does not result in morph‐specific time constraints. These two important time constraints do not account for morph‐specific reproductive success and do not affect the evolutionary equilibrium of morph frequency in I. senegalensis.

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Female sexual receptivity and male copula guarding during prolonged copulations in the damselflyIschnura senegalensis (Odonata:Coenagrionidae)

Cited by 10 publications

References 15 publications

Sperm competition in Odonata (Insecta): the evolution of female sperm storage and rivals' sperm displacement

Sperm competition in Odonata (Insecta): the evolution of female sperm storage and rivals' sperm displacement

Sexual conflict and the evolution of monandry: The case of the damselfly Ischnura hastata (Odonata: Coenagrionidae) in the Galápagos Islands

Time constraints related to sexual maturation and prolonged copulation in the female‐dimorphic damselfly Ischnura senegalensis

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