Impact of low sperm competition on male reproductive trait allometries in a bush-cricket.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Studying reproductive trait allometries can help to understand optimal male investment strategies under sexual selection. In promiscuous mating systems, studies across several taxa suggest that testes allometry is usually positive, presumably due to strong selection on sperm numbers through intense sperm competition. Here, we investigated testes allometry in a bush-cricket species, Metaplastes ornatus, in which females mate promiscuously, but where sperm removal behaviour by males likely drastically reduces realised sperm competition level.

Results

As hypothesised, we found evidence for negative testes allometry and hence a fundamentally different male investment strategy compared to species under intense sperm competition. In addition, the mean relative testes si

SUBMITTER: Winkler L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6788016 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature