Small males of the marine iguana must cope with sexual interference from larger rivals

Alternative Mating Strategies-Satellite Males – A little

action is better than nothing!!

Small male iquanas pre-ejaculate into their penis for quick

sperm transfer because large males quickly remove them
 Alternative forms of a marine amphipod of the genus
Jassa
Minor males sneak matings because they elicit less aggression
Satellite male mating tactics
 A male Panorpa scorpionfly with its strange scorpion-like abdomen tip
Male scorpionflies of different competitive abilities guard either prey or
salivary secretions or force copulations, but if dominant is removed,
each moves up a rank and adopts the next best behaviour.

A gift must keep a female busy for at least 5 minutes to achieve

insemination
and the better the gift, the more sperm transferred
 Three different forms of the sponge isopod
Paracerceis sculpta - large males dominate sponges and
females by ejecting other Alphas or Gammas if
detected. Betas behave like females and sneak
copulations.

Hide in crevices and

sneak copulations

Can control These are genetic behavioural variants

access to 1
female but not
more
 Sperm storage

MATING FERTILIZATION
(copulation)

MATIN
G
Hey
Boys!!!
IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL ITS OVER!!
Why would any female
mate more than once
if sperm are in
1. First sperm may not
excess?
be viable
2. Other sperm may
be better
3. Access to resources
A male black-winged damselfly removes a rival’s sperm before transferring his own
 Sperm competition has shaped the evolution of the black-winged damselfly’s penis

Hooks

& mateguarding behaviour

 Mate guarding occurs in many
animals
After mating, males may hang around and forgo other
mating opportunities so as to guard paternity – this is
likely if other opportunities are rare or hard to achieve and
if competition is stiff, ;-)

Mate guarding can include remaining physically with female,

behaving like a female (some wasps) and inducing another male to
mate, or inserting a plug or chemical that renders her incapable of
receiving sperm or unreceptive (mosquitoes, rats, orb spiders)
The reproductive anatomy of fertilization in birds permits choice by
female

Last in, first out & volume

Males may force
copulations or copulate
frequently
Female collared flycatchers could bias egg fertilizations in favor of an extra-pair mate

Timing of copulations relative

to fertilization can allow
females to control paternity

Females paired to sub-optimal

males can still mate with better
males, but males may boost sperm
numbers when competition is
high
– meadow voles
Has cryptic female mate choice resulted in the evolution of stimulating male genitalia?

The genitalia on the left may leave the female genital tract sore because of
spines

Some genitalia shapes (on right) may be result of selection to remove

sperm
Food supplies on a bird’s territory affect extra-pair paternity in the house sparrow
Male sparrows can stay close
to home and guard against
other males when food is
close by so females can
forage without leaving nest
area
Parental Care – Another behaviour that reduces sperm competition &
may increase offspring fitness
A male redback
literally gives himself
Sexual suicide up as a meal because it
in the increases the chances of
redback fertilization AND other
spider – the mating opportunities
female is less are unlikely because
receptive mortality of male
afterwards if redbacks outside a
she gets to eat female web is very high
the male
Recall infanticide by male lions and male Hanuman langurs!
Access to fertile females sooner
than parental obligations would
dictate