The combined effects of pre- and post-copulatory processes are masking sexual conflict over mating rate in Gerris buenoi.

In polygynandrous animals, post-copulatory processes likely interfere with precopulatory sexual selection. In water striders, sexual conflict over mating rate and post-copulatory processes are well documented, but their combined effect on reproductive success has seldom been investigated. We combine genetic parentage analyses and behavioural observations conducted in a competitive reproductive environment to investigate how pre- and post-copulatory processes influence reproductive success in Gerris buenoi Kirkaldy. Precopulatory struggles had antagonistic effects on male and female reproductive success: efficiently gaining copulations was beneficial for males, whereas efficiently avoiding copulations was profitable for females. Also, high mating rates and an intermediate optimal resistance level of females supported the hypothesis of convenience polyandry. Contrary to formal predictions, high mating rates (i.e. the number of copulations) did not increase reproductive success in males or decrease reproductive success in females. Instead, the reproductive success of both sexes was higher when offspring were produced with several partners and when there were few unnecessary matings. Thus, male and female G. buenoi displayed different interests in reproduction, but post-copulatory processes were masking the effects of copulatory mating success on reproductive success. Given the high mating rates observed, sperm competition could easily counter the effect of mating rates, perhaps in interaction with cryptic female choice and/or fecundity selection. Our study presents a complex but realistic overview of sexual selection forces at work in a model organism for the study of sexual conflict, confirming that insights are gained from investigating all episodes in the reproduction cycle of polygynandrous animals.

Devost E ，Turgeon J 《-》

An integrative view of sexual selection in Tribolium flour beetles.

Sexual selection is a major force driving the evolution of diverse reproductive traits. This evolutionary process is based on individual reproductive advantages that arise either through intrasexual competition or through intersexual choice and conflict. While classical studies of sexual selection focused mainly on differences in male mating success, more recent work has focused on the differences in paternity share that may arise through sperm competition or cryptic female choice whenever females mate with multiple males. Thus, an integrative view of sexual selection needs to encompass processes that occur not only before copulation (pre-mating), but also during copulation (peri-mating), as well as after copulation (post-mating), all of which can generate differences in reproductive success. By encompassing mechanisms of sexual selection across all of these sequential reproductive stages this review takes an integrative approach to sexual selection in Tribolium flour beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), a particularly well-studied and economically important model organism. Tribolium flour beetles colonize patchily distributed grain stores, and juvenile and adult stages share the same food resources. Adults are highly promiscuous and female reproduction is distributed across an adult lifespan lasting approximately 1 year. While Tribolium males produce an aggregation pheromone that attracts both sexes, there appears to be little pre-mating discrimination among potential mates by either sex. However, recent work has revealed several peri-mating and post-mating mechanisms that determine how offspring paternity is apportioned among a female's mates. During mating, Tribolium females reject spermatophore transfer and limit sperm numbers transferred by males with low phenotypic quality. Although there is some conflicting evidence, male copulatory leg-rubbing appears to be associated with overcoming female resistance to insemination and does not influence a male's subsequent paternity share. Evidence suggests that Tribolium beetles have several possible post-mating mechanisms that they may use to bias paternity. Male sperm precedence has been extensively studied in Tribolium spp. and the related Tenebrio molitor, and several factors influencing male paternity share among a female's progeny have been identified. These include oviposition time, inter-mating interval, male strain/genotype, the mating regimen of a male's mother, male starvation, and tapeworm infection. Females exert muscular control over sperm storage, although there is no evidence to date that females use this to differentiate among mates. Females could also influence offspring paternity by re-mating with additional males, and T. castaneum females more readily accept spermatophores when they are re-mating with more attractive males. Additional work is needed to examine the possible roles played by both male and female accessory gland products in determining male paternity share. Sexual selection during pre-mating episodes may be reinforced or counteracted by peri- and post-copulatory selection, and antagonistic coevolution between the sexes may be played out across reproductive stages. In Tribolium, males' olfactory attractiveness is positively correlated with both insemination success and paternity share, suggesting consistent selection across different reproductive stages. Similar studies across sequential reproductive stages are needed in other taxa to provide a more integrative view of sexual selection.

Fedina TY ，Lewis SM 《-》

Antagonistic pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection on male body size in a water strider (Gerris lacustris).

Danielsson I 《-》

Paternity analyses in wild-caught and laboratory-reared Caribbean cricket females reveal the influence of mating environment on post-copulatory sexual selection.

Polyandry is ubiquitous in insects and provides the conditions necessary for male- and female-driven forms of post-copulatory sexual selection to arise. Populations of Amphiacusta sanctaecrucis exhibit significant divergence in portions of the male genitalia that are inserted directly into the female reproductive tract, suggesting that males may exercise some post-copulatory control over fertilization success. We examine the potential for male-male and male-female post-copulatory interactions to influence paternity in wild-caught females of A. sanctaecrucis and contrast our findings with those obtained from females reared in a high-density laboratory environment. We find that female A. sanctaecrucis exercise control by mating multiple times (females mount males), but that male-male post-copulatory interactions may influence paternity success. Moreover, post-copulatory interactions that affect reproductive success of males are not independent of mating environment: clutches of wild-caught females exhibit higher sire diversity and lower paternity skew than clutches of laboratory-reared females. There was no strong evidence for last male precedence in either case. Most attempts at disentangling the contributions of male-male and male-female interactions towards post-copulatory sexual selection have been undertaken in a laboratory setting and may not capture the full context in which they take place--such as the relationship between premating and post-mating interactions. Our results reinforce the importance of designing studies that can capture the multifaceted nature of sexual selection for elucidating the role of post-copulatory sexual selection in driving the evolution of male and female reproductive traits, especially when different components (e.g. precopulatory and post-copulatory interactions) do not exert independent effects on reproductive outcomes.

Oneal E ，Knowles LL 《-》

Evaluating the post-copulatory sexual selection hypothesis for genital evolution reveals evidence for pleiotropic harm exerted by the male genital spines of Drosophila ananassae.

The contemporary explanation for the rapid evolutionary diversification of animal genitalia is that such traits evolve by post-copulatory sexual selection. Here, we test the hypothesis that the male genital spines of Drosophila ananassae play an adaptive role in post-copulatory sexual selection. Whereas previous work on two Drosophila species shows that these spines function in precopulatory sexual selection to initiate genital coupling and promote male competitive copulation success, further research is needed to evaluate the potential for Drosophila genital spines to have a post-copulatory function. Using a precision micron-scale laser surgery technique, we test the effect of spine length reduction on copulation duration, male competitive fertilization success, female fecundity and female remating behaviour. We find no evidence that male genital spines in this species have a post-copulatory adaptive function. Instead, females mated to males with surgically reduced/blunted genital spines exhibited comparatively greater short-term fecundity relative to those mated by control males, indicating that the natural (i.e. unaltered) form of the trait may be harmful to females. In the absence of an effect of genital spine reduction on measured components of post-copulatory fitness, the harm seems to be a pleiotropic side effect rather than adaptive. Results are discussed in the context of sexual conflict mediating the evolution of male genital spines in this species and likely other Drosophila.

Grieshop K ，Polak M 《-》