Multiple Mating Increases Fecundity, Fertility and Relative Clutch Mass in the Female Leopard Gecko (Eublepharis macularius)

Abstract

Females across many taxa may mate with several males or mate more than once with the same male within one reproductive event. Although many researchers have discussed the effects of multiple mating on reproductive success of females, few studies have attempted to disentangle whether the reproductive success of females differs with respect to whether females mate with multiple males or mate more than once with one male. In this study, we hypothesized that female leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius) increase aspects of their reproductive success, such as fecundity, fertility and relative clutch mass, by mating more than once within one reproductive event, either by mating repeatedly with the same male or multiply mating with different males. We controlled for the potentially confounding variables of mating frequency and mate number by allowing females to mate once with one male, twice with the same male, or twice with two different males. We found that females that mated with more than one male laid more clutches, exhibited increased egg fertility and invested more in clutches relative to females that mated only once with one male, whereas females that mated twice to the same male were intermediate for these variables. Thus, reproductive success is higher among female leopard geckos that mated with more than one male compared to female leopard geckos that mated only once.

Determinants of female fecundity in a simultaneous hermaphrodite: the role of polyandry and food availability

“…For instance, mating with multiple males has been shown to be beneficial to females in echinoderms (Evans and Marshall 2005), insects (Tregenza and Wedell 1998;Fedorka and Mousseau 2002;Dunn et al 2005), fishes (Evans and Magurran 2000) and reptiles (LaDage et al 2008), but it can also be associated with a reduction of the female's reproductive output, as reported for many insect species (e.g., Orsetti and Rutowski 2003;Bybee et al 2005;Ronkainen et al 2010). At the same time, several studies found no effect of polyandry on female fecundity in insects (e.g., Baker et al 2001;Schwartz and Peterson 2006;House et al 2009).…”

Multiple Paternity Benefits Female Marbled Salamanders by Increasing Survival of Progeny to Metamorphosis

“…Whether females chose to mate with more than one male may have been related to other traits such as age, size, or parental investment (LaDage et al. ) that could have resulted in spurious effects of paternity status on survival to metamorphosis. Although this possibility for maternal effects cannot be ruled out, we believe it to be unlikely.…”

Hormones and Reproductive Cycles in Lizards

“…Some species exhibit oneegg (e.g., Anolis (Smith, Sinelnik, Fawcett, & Jones, 1973)) or two-egg clutches (e.g., many geckos including Eublepharis (LaDage, Gutzke, Simmons, & Ferkin, 2008)) produced repeatedly over the course of a breeding season, whereas other species produce clutches averaging approximately 20-30 eggs produced once per breeding season (e.g., Phrynosoma (Ballinger, 1974;Endriss, Hellgren, Fox, & Moody, 2007)). Some species exhibit oneegg (e.g., Anolis (Smith, Sinelnik, Fawcett, & Jones, 1973)) or two-egg clutches (e.g., many geckos including Eublepharis (LaDage, Gutzke, Simmons, & Ferkin, 2008)) produced repeatedly over the course of a breeding season, whereas other species produce clutches averaging approximately 20-30 eggs produced once per breeding season (e.g., Phrynosoma (Ballinger, 1974;Endriss, Hellgren, Fox, & Moody, 2007)).…”

“…This species is native to southwestern Asia, although most if not all studies on its reproduction have occurred in laboratories using animals from captive-bred stock. Adult females lay two-egg clutches (or, rarely, one-egg clutches) repeatedly across the breeding season (Rhen et al, 2000;LaDage et al, 2008). Adult females lay two-egg clutches (or, rarely, one-egg clutches) repeatedly across the breeding season (Rhen et al, 2000;LaDage et al, 2008).…”

“…Females are produced at low and high incubation temperatures, whereas mixed-sex ratios are produced at intermediate temperatures (female-biased at low-intermediate and male-biased at high-intermediate temperatures) (Crews & Moore, 2005). Females readily mate with multiple males both within and between clutches although they can store sperm and continue egg production in the absence of males (LaDage et al, 2008). Females readily mate with multiple males both within and between clutches although they can store sperm and continue egg production in the absence of males (LaDage et al, 2008).…”