Male courtship success and female discrimination in the mediterranean fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae)

The mating success of individually marked male Mediterranean fruit flies was monitored over 6 consecutive days in the laboratory. Mating frequency was nonrandom, as the numbers of both males that failed to mate and males that mated many (more than four) times were much higher than expected by chance alone. Differential mating success resulted in part from intermale variation in activity level. Male copulatory success was positively correlated with the numbers of courtships performed, attempted copulations (mountings), and females courted. Male-male aggression, on the other hand, and a negligible effect on male mating success. Female choice also appeared to influence male mating frequency. Fewer than 10% of courtships resulted in mating, and in most cases females terminated courtship by simply moving away from the male. Females that did mate generally selected males having higher copulatory scores than previously rejected males.