Delayed oviposition: a female strategy to counter infanticide by males? |
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Authors: | Schneider Jutta M |
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Institution: | Mitrani Center for Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert
Research, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer 84990, Israel, and
Max-Planck-Institut für Verhaltensphysiologie,
D-82319 Starnberg Seewiesen, Germany |
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Abstract: | Conflicts of interest between males and females can lead toan evolutionary
arms race in which adaptations of each sex coevolve.Intersexual conflict is
extreme in the brood caring, semelparousspider Stegodyphus lineatus;
males encountering females thathave already produced their usually single egg
sac attempt toremove and discard the egg sac and then remate with the female.
Femalesthat cannot defend their eggs lose valuable time and fecundityby
having to replace the clutch. Selection should favor femalesthat complete
their suicidal maternal care as quickly as possiblebecause of the high risk
of predation. However, some femalestake up to four times longer to oviposit
than others. I proposethat females minimize the risk of male infanticide by
postponingoviposition. Accordingly, early-maturing females, who sufferthe
highest risk of infanticide by males, should have a longerinterval between
maturation and oviposition than late-maturingfemales. The date of maturation
significantly predicted theinterval between maturation and oviposition and
explained upto 35% of its variation in a data set from a natural population
andlonger term data from a seminatural, enclosed population. Bodysize was
predicted to have a weak effect on the timing of ovipositionand was
consistently less important than maturation date. Theobserved facultative
timing of oviposition may have evolvedas a result of intersexual conflict
over mating. |
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Keywords: | life-history strategy mating system sexual conflict spider Stegodyphus |
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