Prolonged copulations as an alternative to male nuptial gift investment in the bushcricket Letana inflata (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)

Abstract

In most bushcricket species, the male transfers a nuptial gift to the female during mating, consisting of a gelatinous spermatophylax attached to the paired ampulla with the sperm. The spermatophylax acts as a sperm protection device; during its consumption, the sperm are transferred into the female’s spermatheca. Males of the bushcricket Letana inflata (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1878) show strongly extended copulation duration. When the pair finally separates, only an ampulla is visible at the females’ genital opening, but no spermatophylax. To better understand copulation dynamics in the absence of a spermatophylax, we studied copula duration and sperm transfer pattern. Our results show that in Letana inflata the missing spermatophylax is replaced by extended copulation, securing the transfer of sperm into the spermatheca.