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Female Medflies Mate Selectively with Young Males but Gain No Apparent Fitness Benefits

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Abstract

Species in which female choice is not strongly shaped by male-controlled resources present a challenge to sexual selection research, because it is typically difficult to identify the male phenotypic cues used in female mate selection or the fitness benefits accruing from such selection. In such species, mate selection is presumably based on direct benefits associated with sperm quantity or quality and/or indirect benefits relating to the viability or mating probability of the progeny. Across animal taxa in general, male age has received considerable attention as a potential indicator of these fitness benefits, and the importance of male age in affecting female choice and fitness has been investigated in various insect species with highly variable results. The present study examined whether females of the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata (Wied.), a lek-forming species, discriminate among potential mates on the basis of male age and whether this selectivity results in fitness benefits to the females. Both young (10 days old) and old (40 days old) females were offered males from two groups differing in age by 10, 20, or 30 days. Young females mated randomly when the age difference between the younger and older males was 10 days but mated preferentially with the younger males when the age difference was 20 or 30 days. Old females did not discriminate among males of different ages. Although young females showed mate selectivity, we found no differences in fecundity, fertility, or larval viability between young females mated to 10 versus 40 day old males.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Don McInnis for allowing us to work at the USDA-ARS facility and Francisco Diaz Fleischer, Nikos Papadopoulos, Diana Pérez Staples, and Boaz Yuval for comments on an earlier draft.

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  1. USDA-APHIS, 41-650 Ahiki Street, Waimanalo, HI, 96795, USA

    Todd E. Shelly, James Edu & Elaine Pahio

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  1. Todd E. Shelly
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  2. James Edu
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Correspondence to Todd E. Shelly.

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Shelly, T.E., Edu, J. & Pahio, E. Female Medflies Mate Selectively with Young Males but Gain No Apparent Fitness Benefits. J Insect Behav 24, 55–66 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-010-9236-6

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