Presentation Details
| Copulatory Courtship and Cryptic Female Choice in Scathophaga stercoraria Yellow Dung Flies Hossein Asgari, Rafael L.Rodríguez. Behavioral & Molecular Ecology Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA |
Abstract
Male courtship during copulation may function in influencing cryptic female choice decisions. We tested this hypothesis with yellow dung flies, in which the male's 5th abdominal sternite bears flexible lobes that rhythmically contact the female's abdomen during mating. We surgically removed the lobes and assessed mating outcomes. The surgery did not prevent mounting, intromission, or copulation, but significantly reduced sperm storage: females mated with modified males had fewer sperm across fewer spermathecae than females mated with sham control males. In a mating–oviposition–remating–oviposition assay, females first mated with modified males laid fewer eggs initially but dramatically increased oviposition after remating with an intact male—the opposite pattern of females first mated with sham controls. These results suggests that copulatory courtship in yellow dung flies influences at least two cryptic female choice mechanisms: differential sperm storage and oviposition. Our results challenge the prevailing sexual conflict framework in yellow dung flies and support cryptic female choice as a major driver of male genital evolution.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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