Males of a sexually cannibalistic spider chemically assess relative female quality.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mate choice is a taxonomically wide-spread phenomenon, mostly exerted by females although male mate choice occurs as well. While costs and benefits of choosiness have been well studied, the underlying mechanisms are largely unclear. Different models exist, namely best-of-n or threshold rules, based on sequential or simultaneous sampling, which differ in the required cognitive demands. We applied an experimental approach to shed light on the underlying mechanisms of male mate choice in the sexually cannibalistic spider Argiope bruennichi. Males are limited to two copulations and preferentially monopolise large females, while they may leave smaller females after a single copulation and resume mate search. Here, we utilised significant size-differences between females from

SUBMITTER: Cory AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7376935 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature