Timing of female sexual unreceptivity and male adj

Authors: Anita Aisenberg Natalia Estramil Carlos ToscanoGadea Macarena González

Publish Date: 2008/01/31

Volume: 27, Issue: 1, Pages: 43-50

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Abstract

Males can change their copulatory or sperm transfer patterns in response to sperm competition risk Schizocosa malitiosa performs long copulations which include two consecutive patterns Patterns 1 and 2 Virgin females are very sexually receptive but mated females diminish their receptiveness Female unreceptivity has been attributed to the action of receptivityinhibiting substances mainly transferred during Pattern 1 We tested 1 if females who mated only with Pattern 1 were immediately unreceptive 2 male and female behaviours when the copulating couple was exposed to another male For 1 we interrupted mating when Pattern 1 finished and immediately exposed the female to a second male For 2 we introduced a second male when the couple was starting Ei or finishing copulation Li Females were unreceptive immediately after finishing Pattern 1 Males from Ei and Li dismounted and approached the second males Ei males diminished the frequencies of insertion after perceiving the presence of a second male and dismounted less frequently when copulating with heavy females The study provides insights about the timing of sexual unreceptivity in S malitiosa under possibilities of sperm competition discussing male adjustment of copulatory behaviour in the presence of rival malesWe are very grateful to Fernando G Costa for his helpful comments on the experimental design and suggestions for the manuscript We thank Mark A Elgar an anonymous reviewer the Associate Editor and Editor Yoshitaka Tsubaki for their comments and suggestions that substantially improved the manuscript We also thank Luciana Baruffaldi for helping with the capture and breeding of the spiders The experiments comply with the current Uruguayan and institutional laws

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