Male Remating Success and the Frequency of Copulatory Plugs in the Green Lynx SpiderPeucetia viridans(Araneae, Oxyopidae)

Peucetia viridans males were allowed to mate with three virgin females and mostmatings resulted in live spiderlings, even when males lacked palpal paracymbialprocesses. Among females, the presence of copulatory plugs was inconsistent, andwhen present, their condition was not uniform; broken-off male paracymbia were oftenfound in epigynal orifices. There was no size effect in a male's ability to completelyplug a female's genital orifices, as well as no significant change in the pattern of plug production over consecutive mating trials. Among mated, field-collected females, thepresence of plugs and paracymbia was variable, with females from some sitespossessing neither structure. Field-collected females with no plugs were in significantlybetter condition than those with two plugs and in nearly significantly better conditionthan those with two paracymbia. Females in the best condition may excel at resistingthe emplacement of genital obstructions and/or voiding such structures, potentiallyenabling them to mate with multiple males. Enhanced prey access mediated byincreased water availability may be why females at two sites were in relatively bettercondition. If plugs help prevent sperm desiccation in inseminated females, this mayhave contributed to the absence of plugs from females at these two moister sites