Male Mating Rate Is Constrained by Seminal Fluid Availability in Bedbugs, Cimex lectularius

Sexual selection, differences in reproductive success between individuals, continues beyond acquiring a mating partner and affects ejaculate size and composition (sperm competition). Sperm and seminal fluid have very different roles in sperm competition but both components encompass production costs for the male. Theoretical models predict that males should spend ejaculate components prudently and differently for sperm and seminal fluid but empirical evidence for independent variation of sperm number and seminal fluid volume is scarce. It is also largely unknown how sperm and seminal fluid variation affect future mating rate. In bedbugs we developed a protocol to examine the role of seminal fluids in ejaculate allocation and its effect on future male mating rate. Using age-related changes in sperm and seminal fluid volume we estimated the lowest capacity at which mating activity started. We then showed that sexually active males allocate 12% of their sperm and 19% of their seminal fluid volume per mating and predicted that males would be depleted of seminal fluid but not of sperm. We tested (and confirmed) this prediction empirically. Finally, the slightly faster replenishment of seminal fluid compared to sperm did not outweigh the faster decrease during mating. Our results suggest that male mating rate can be constrained by the availability of seminal fluids. Our protocol might be applicable to a range of other organisms. We discuss the idea that economic considerations in sexual conflict research might benefit from distinguishing between costs and benefits that are ejaculate dose-dependent and those that are frequency-dependent on the mating rate per se

Male Drosophila melanogaster adjust ejaculate size based on female mating status, fecundity, and age

In contrast to early predictions, it is now widely accepted that males incur substantive costs from ejaculate production. Hence, males are predicted to allocate their reproductive investments, including ejaculate size, relative to the risk of sperm competition and to female quality. The study of sperm allocation, however, has been technically challenging with nonvirgin females because sperm fromdifferent males must be discriminated within the female reproductive tract. To date, such investigations have thus largely been restricted to species that transfer sperm in spermatophores or for which females can be fitted with a harness to capture the incoming ejaculate. In this study, we examined sperm allocation using male Drosophila melanogaster that express a fluorescently labeled protein in sperm heads, allowing us to quantify sperm numbers from different males within the female reproductive tract. We found that male D. melanogaster deliver significantly more sperm to mated, large or young females compared with virgins, small or old females, respectively, whereas copulation duration was only significantly longer with large than with small females. These results provide further evidence for costly ejaculate production and consequent prudent allocation of sperm. Key words: ejaculate size, body size, female reproductive value, sperm competition, sperm number

Kin recognition in Drosophila: the importance of ecology and gut microbiota

International audienceThe animal gut commonly contains a large reservoir of symbiotic microbes. Although these microbes have obvious functions in digestion and immune defence, gut microbes can also affect behaviour. Here, we explore whether gut microbiota has a role in kin recognition. We assessed whether relatedness, familiarity and food eaten during development altered copulation investment in three species of Drosophila with diverse ecologies. We found that a monandrous species exhibited true kin recognition, whereas familiarity determined kin recognition in a species living in dense aggregations. Finally, in a food generalist species, food eaten during development masked kin recognition. The effect of food type on copulation duration, in addition to the removal of this effect via antibiotic treatment, suggests the influence of bacteria associated with the gut. Our results provide the first evidence that varied ecologically determined mechanisms of kin recognition occur in Drosophila, and that gut bacteria are likely to have a key role in these mechanisms