Facultative sperm storage in response to nutritional status in a female insect.
We investigated sperm storage by females of a predatory bug, Nabis rugosus, before and after hibernation and with regard to nutritional status. In the field, females had more sperm available before than after hibernation. Food-deprived females maintained fewer sperm than fed females before but not after hibernation. However, after hibernation food-deprived females suppressed egg production rather than decreasing sperm-storage efficiency. Because mated females did not exhibit increased overwinter survival relative to virgin females there is a low likelihood of direct benefits in the form of ejaculate-derived nutrients. If nutrition-dependent sperm storage by females is widespread in the animal kingdom, our findings may have important implications for the understanding of postcopulatory sexual selection and the evolution of food gifts.
Roth
S
S
Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena, Institute of Ecology, Dornburger Strasse 159, D-07743 Jena, Germany. steffen.roth@macnews.de
Reinhardt
K
K
D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status / Q000502:physiology*; D012621:Seasons; D012662:Semen Preservation; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D013076:Sperm Count; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology*