Ejaculatory strategies associated with experience of losing.
Modulation of behaviours as a result of fighting experience has been observed in many animals and can influence pre-copulatory sexual selection. This study investigated how fighting experience affects ejaculatory strategies. In male flour beetles, Gnatocerus cornutus, experience of losing a fight decreases a male's aggressiveness for up to 4 days. We found that males losing a fight show increased ejaculatory investment, but there was no ejaculatory modulation owing to winning. However, the increase in ejaculate investment following a loss was no longer observed after 5 days. These results indicate that males adjust their investment in sperm competition according to their experience, and that fighting experience can significantly influence pre- and post-copulatory reproductive tactics.
Okada
Kensuke
K
Laboratory of Evolutionary Ecology, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Okayama University, Tsushima-naka 111, Okayama 700-8530, Japan. okaken@cc.okayama-u.ac.jp
Yamane
Takashi
T
Miyatake
Takahisa
T
D000374:Aggression; D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal
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