Males increase their fitness by choosing large females in the common bedbug Cimex lectularius: Supplementary material
Elena Kaufmann
Oliver Otti
10.6084/m9.figshare.7071755.v1
https://brill.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Males_increase_their_fitness_by_choosing_large_females_in_the_common_bedbug_Cimex_lectularius_Supplementary_material/7071755
<p>Mate choice is often a role assigned to females. Already
Darwin realised that males are eager to copulate, and females are choosy. However,
male mate choice is not as rare as assumed. Males should choose females if
females vary in quality, i.e., fecundity. Indeed, males often choose larger mates
and through this preference increase fitness benefits. In addition, if mating
costs reduce the number of copulations a male can potentially perform, he
should be choosy.</p>
<p>Bedbug females vary in their fecundity and female size is
positively related to fecundity. Male bedbugs are limited in seminal fluid availability
and, hence, the number of consecutive matings they can perform. Traumatic
insemination gives males full control over mating, therefore low female mating
resistance could further allow males to be choosy.</p>
<p>Here, we investigated if male bedbugs prefer to mate with large
females using mate choice arenas. We observed mating behaviour and measured
female fecundity to investigate potential male fitness benefits. Males chose to
mate with large females 1.8 times more often than small females and large
females laid significantly more eggs than small females. Our study provides
first evidence for male mate choice based on female body size in bedbugs and
males can increase their fitness by mating large females. It has to be further
established if male mate choice is driven by mating costs in terms of ejaculate
investment and if such male mate choice based on female size could be a driver
of sexual size dimorphism in bedbugs.</p>
2018-09-24 09:13:22
ejaculate investment
hypodermic impregnation
male mating behaviour
motivation
reproduction
sexual selection
sperm allocation
Ecology not elsewhere classified