Open AccessCostly mating delays drive female ornamentation in a capital breeder
Author(s) -
Hopkins Juhani,
Lehtonen Topi K.,
Baudry Gautier,
Kaitala Arja
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.17
H-Index - 63
ISSN - 2045-7758
DOI - 10.1002/ece3.7719
Subject(s) - fecundity , mating , biology , reproduction , zoology , ecology , reproductive strategy , demography , population , sociology
Abstract How fecundity might be traded off with mate attraction and other aspects of reproduction in females remains poorly understood. We investigated these allocation trade‐offs using the common glowworm ( Lampyris noctiluca ), a lampyrid beetle, in which flightless, sedentary females only use resources gathered during the larval stage to attract flying males by glowing. While sexual signaling was not found to have a significant fecundity cost, a delay in successfully attracting a mate greatly increased the risk of reproductive failure, with fecundity losses being more severe in small females. These findings are among the first to show that failure to quickly attract a mate can decrease female fecundity. The results also show how the length of delay before mating can drive the evolution of female sexual ornamentation.