Spider mite males undress females to secure the first mating.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Schausberger P
PROVIDER: S-EPMC10391926 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Spider mite males undress females to secure the first mating.
Schausberger Peter P Nguyen Thi Hanh TH Altintas Mustafa M
iScience 20230707 7
Intense mate competition favors the evolution of extraordinary mating strategies such as the ability of males to identify premature females that are close to becoming mature and associate with them until they are sexually receptive (dubbed precopulatory mate guarding). Owing to possible take-overs by rival males, precopulatory guarding is a high-risk, time- and energy-intensive strategy. Here, we provide experimental evidence that guarding spider mite males undress females by actively removing t ...[more]
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