Abstract
Sexual selection allows male individuals to adopt different evolutionary strategies in mating system. In this study, we determined whether dominance affected reproductive fitness of male crickets Velarifictorus aspersus during both pre-copulatory and post-copulatory selection when we excluded male–male competition. The results showed that females mated more often with male winners only during the first 2 h after a fight when male winners were more likely to produce courtship songs than losers. However, females did not retain the attached spermatophores of male winners longer than those of male losers, and the fecundity and fertilization success also did not differ significantly between females mated different times with male winners and losers. Instead, the fertilization success was positively correlated with male body weight. These results suggest that a recent wining experience increases reproductive fitness of males during pre-copulatory selection, but females may prefer larger males rather than winners during post-copulatory selection. The incoordination between pre- and post-copulatory selection may allow males to adopt different evolutionary strategies in mating system.
Highlights
Sexual selection is one of the most powerful force in determining the reproductive success of all individuals
A previous study showed that the courtship behavior of male losers was suppressed by the presence of male winners, and that females mated more often with male winners than losers, thereby suggesting that males can increase their reproductive fitness by winning a male–male competition[22]
Male winners and losers required more than 60 min to initiate courtship songs, and there were no significant differences between winners and losers (Two-way ANOVA, fight outcome: df = 1, F = 3.700, P = 0.056)
Summary
Sexual selection is one of the most powerful force in determining the reproductive success of all individuals. Male winners usually have a greater chance of copulating by suppressing the male losers[8], suggesting that dominance positively affects competition for access to mating partners. It is unclear whether male dominance affects the mating choice of females. To determine whether male dominance affects reproductive fitness of male crickets during both pre-copulatory and post-copulatory selection when male–male competition is excluded, we investigated the mating behaviors of males and females when male winners and losers were kept separately with a sexually mature female at different times after fighting. We compared the spermatophore retention time, fecundity, and fertilization success of females mated with winners or losers to determine whether male dominance affected the post-copulatory reproductive fitness
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