Abstract
Males can change their copulatory or sperm transfer patterns in response to sperm competition risk. Schizocosa malitiosa performs long copulations, which include two consecutive patterns (Patterns 1 and 2). Virgin females are very sexually receptive, but mated females diminish their receptiveness. Female unreceptivity has been attributed to the action of receptivity-inhibiting substances, mainly transferred during Pattern 1. We tested: (1) if females who mated only with Pattern 1 were immediately unreceptive; (2) male and female behaviours when the copulating couple was exposed to another male. For (1), we interrupted mating when Pattern 1 finished and immediately exposed the female to a second male. For (2), we introduced a second male when the couple was starting (Ei) or finishing copulation (Li). Females were unreceptive immediately after finishing Pattern 1. Males from Ei and Li dismounted and approached the second males. Ei males diminished the frequencies of insertion after perceiving the presence of a second male and dismounted less frequently when copulating with heavy females. The study provides insights about the timing of sexual unreceptivity in S. malitiosa under possibilities of sperm competition, discussing male adjustment of copulatory behaviour in the presence of rival males.
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Acknowledgments
We are very grateful to Fernando G. Costa for his helpful comments on the experimental design and suggestions for the manuscript. We thank Mark A. Elgar, an anonymous reviewer, the Associate Editor and Editor Yoshitaka Tsubaki for their comments and suggestions that substantially improved the manuscript. We also thank Luciana Baruffaldi for helping with the capture and breeding of the spiders. The experiments comply with the current Uruguayan and institutional laws.
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10164_2007_81_MOESM1_ESM.rtf
Table S1. Cephalothorax length (cl), cephalothorax width (cw) and weight of individuals used in each experimental group. Data presented as Mean ± SD, with the corresponding range between brackets (RTF 34.8 kb)
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Aisenberg, A., Estramil, N., Toscano-Gadea, C. et al. Timing of female sexual unreceptivity and male adjustment of copulatory behaviour under competition risk in the wolf spider Schizocosa malitiosa . J Ethol 27, 43–50 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-007-0081-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-007-0081-9