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Nuptial feeding of spermless spermatophores in the Hawaiian swordtail cricket, Laupala pacifica (Gryllidae: Triginodiinae)

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Abstract

Crickets in the genus Laupala (subfamily Trigonidiinae) have an elaborate courtship system, defined by a highly ritualized serial transfer of multiple spermatophores. Males produce multiple “micro” spermatophores followed by a final “macro” spermatophore during a single mating bout. Remarkably, the microspermatophores of L. cerasina, the first species whose mating system was studied in detail, were discovered to be spermless. However, in a study of another species, L. pacifica, sperm transfer was reported after every copulation suggesting that L. pacifica microspermatophores contain sperm. The presence or absence of sperm in the microspermatophore has important implications for the evolution of this exaggerated courtship system and the origin of nuptial gifts. In this study, we systematically examined L. pacifica spermatophore contents for sperm using a fluorescent nuclear stain. We detected sperm only in macrospermatophores. This finding suggests that spermless microspermatophores are typical for Laupala; thus, to determine the origin of this highly modified phenotype will require comparative analyses with closely related outgroups that exhibit less exaggerated courtship systems.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Tamra Mendelson and Brian Coyle for helpful comments on the manuscript and Jenna Jadin for providing crickets used for photographic purposes. This work was financially supported by an award to TND, Biology of Small Populations Research Training Grant (NSF BIR-9602266). The experiments described herein were performed in compliance with current laws in the United States.

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  1. Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742-4415, USA

    Tagide N. deCarvalho & Kerry L. Shaw

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  1. Tagide N. deCarvalho
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  2. Kerry L. Shaw
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Correspondence to Tagide N. deCarvalho.

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deCarvalho, T.N., Shaw, K.L. Nuptial feeding of spermless spermatophores in the Hawaiian swordtail cricket, Laupala pacifica (Gryllidae: Triginodiinae). Naturwissenschaften 92, 483–487 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-005-0023-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-005-0023-8

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