Mating behavior in the seed beetle Acanthoscelides obtectus selected for early and late reproduction

Lines of Acanthoscelides obtectus that had been selected for either early- or late-life fitness components were compared with respect to early-life mating behavior of both females and males. Early-life mating frequencies and mating speed of both sexes, as well as female remating rates, were substantially higher in the late- than in the early-reproducing lines. These findings do not corroborate the hypothesis that selection for increased age at reproduction (and hence increased longevity) should result in reduced early-life mating efforts. We suggest that cryptic sexual selection within the late-age selection regime and relaxed sexual selection within the early-age selection regime may be the most important contributors to the pattern of mating behavior we see in the present study. Copyright 2009, Oxford University Press.