Abstract
The oviposition rate of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis was determined under conditions of grouping and isolation. Isolated snails appeared to have a higher oviposition rate than animals kept in groups. The removal of a particular part of the vas deferens eliminates copulation activity completely. This technique was used to demonstrate that the reduction of the oviposition rate as a consequence of grouping is caused by mating. Further experiments revealed that this effect of mating was due to a considerable prolongation of the oviposition interval in female copulants. Since these hermaphrodite observed reduction of the oviposition rates in groups can be explained by the prolongation of the oviposition interval due to mating as a female. The lower oviposition rate is not compensated for by increased clutch size, thus an actual decrease of fecundity occurs. The effect of mating on fecundity is discussed in the context of life history tactics of freshwater snails.
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