Sex-specific evolutionary potential of pre- and postcopulatory reproductive interactions in the field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus.

Mate choice often depends on the properties of both sexes, such as the preference and responsiveness of the female and the sexual display traits of the male. Quantitative genetic studies, however, traditionally explore the outcome of an interaction between males and females based solely on the genotype of one sex, treating the other sex as a source of environmental variance. Here, we use a half-sib breeding design in the field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus, to estimate the additive genetic contribution of both partners to three steps of the mate choice process: the time taken to mate; the duration of spermatophore attachment; and the intensity of mate guarding. Rather than each sex contributing equally to the interactions, we found that genetic variation for latency to mate and spermatophore attachment was sex-specific, and in the case of mate-guarding intensity, largely absent. For a given interaction, genetic variation in one sex also appears to be largely independent of the other, and is also uncorrelated with the other traits. We discuss how pre- and postcopulatory interactions have the potential to evolve as an interacting phenotype, but that any coevolution between these traits, due to sexual selection or sexual conflict, may be limited.

Hall MD ，Lailvaux SP ，Brooks RC 《-》

Experimental evidence that sexual conflict influences the opportunity, form and intensity of sexual selection.

Hall MD ，Bussière LF ，Hunt J ，Brooks R ... -  《EVOLUTION》

Sexual conflict and cryptic female choice in the black field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus.

The prevalence and evolutionary consequences of cryptic female choice (CFC) remain highly controversial, not least because the processes underlying its expression are often concealed within the female reproductive tract. However, even when female discrimination is relatively easy to observe, as in numerous insect species with externally attached spermatophores, it is often difficult to demonstrate directional CFC for certain male phenotypes over others. Using a biological assay to separate male crickets into attractive or unattractive categories, we demonstrate that females strongly discriminate against unattractive males by removing their spermatophores before insemination can be completed. This results in significantly more sperm being transferred by attractive males than unattractive males. Males respond to CFC by mate guarding females after copulation, which increases the spermatophore retention of both attractive and unattractive males. Interestingly, unattractive males who suffered earlier interruption of sperm transfer benefited more from mate guarding, and they guarded females more vigilantly than attractive males. Our results suggest that postcopulatory mate guarding has evolved via sexual conflict over insemination times rather than through genetic benefits of biasing paternity toward vigorous males, as has been previously suggested.

Bussière LF ，Hunt J ，Jennions MD ，Brooks R ... -  《EVOLUTION》

Sexual conflict and the maintenance of multivariate genetic variation.

Hall MD ，Lailvaux SP ，Blows MW ，Brooks RC ... -  《-》

Competitive PCR reveals the complexity of postcopulatory sexual selection in Teleogryllus commodus.

Hall MD ，Bussière LF ，Demont M ，Ward PI ，Brooks RC ... -  《-》