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An Integrative View of Postcopulatory Sexual Selection in a Soldier Fly: Interplay Between Cryptic Mate Choice and Sperm Competition

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Cryptic Female Choice in Arthropods

Abstract

Cryptic female choice (CFC) can occur in the same species in conjunction with other postcopulatory processes, such as sperm competition (SC) and cryptic male choice (CMC). However, each of these processes has been mostly studied in isolation. Little is known about how they interact with each other and how this interplay affects the role they play in sexual selection. This chapter addresses the interplay between CFC , CMC, and SC in the soldier fly , Merosargus cingulatus (Diptera: Stratiomyidae ). Soldier flies mate at oviposition sites ; both sexes mate multiply and males perform copulatory courtship . Here, we describe the different postcopulatory processes that occur in this species: Females use control of oviposition timing as a CFC mechanism. Males show cryptic preferences for larger females and respond to SC cues by increasing copulation duration . Male reproductive success is, therefore, a result of a number of factors: oviposition behavior, copulatory courtship, copulation duration, female size, and male density at the oviposition site. The interaction between CFC and other postcopulatory processes sheds light on its potential impact on sexual selection and evolution.

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Acknowledgments

I thank Anita Aisenberg and Alfredo Peretti for inviting me to write this chapter, Darren Rebar and an anonymous reviewer for useful comments on a previous draft, and Allysa Hallett for allowing me to use her drawing. Financial support was provided by NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2012 number 1202761.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Recherche Sur La Biologie de L’Insecte (IRBI), Université François Rabelais, Tours, France

    Flavia Barbosa

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  1. Flavia Barbosa
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Correspondence to Flavia Barbosa .

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  1. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal, CONICET—Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Cordoba, Argentina

    Alfredo V. Peretti

  2. Laboratorio de Etología, Ecología y Evolución, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Anita Aisenberg

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Barbosa, F. (2015). An Integrative View of Postcopulatory Sexual Selection in a Soldier Fly: Interplay Between Cryptic Mate Choice and Sperm Competition. In: Peretti, A., Aisenberg, A. (eds) Cryptic Female Choice in Arthropods. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17894-3_14

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