Mating Systems and Reproductive Strategies in Three Australian Gryllid Crickets: Bobilla victoriae Otte, Balamara gidya Otte and Teleogryllus commodus (Walker) (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Nemobiinae; Trigonidiinae; Gryllinae)

The behaviour of B. victoriae and B. gidya in simulated natural habitats is described. Regular predictable sequences of behaviour are represented by ethograms. The mating systems of B. victoriae and B. gidya are compared with that of T. commodus which shows a sedentary call‐and‐reside strategy. B. victoriae shows an elaborated male call‐search strategy while in B. gidya the male strategy is one purely of searching rather than advertising for mates. Males of B. victoriae and B. gidya were less territorial and less aggressive than males of T. commodus . Males of B. victoriae attracted females and monopolized them for repeated matings by providing what might be a nutritional resource in the form of multiple spermatophores which females were allowed to eat soon after copulation. Males of B. gidya produced fewer but much larger spermatophores than males of B. victoriae or T. commodus and females of B. gidya became unreceptive after mating. The reproductive strategies of the three species are analyzed in terms of environmental variables.