Sperm Competition and Its Evolutionary Consequences in the Insects

by Leigh W. Simmons

Overview

One hundred years after Darwin considered how sexual selection shapes the behavioral and morphological characteristics of males for acquiring mates, Parker realized that sexual selection continues after mating through sperm competition. Because females often mate with multiple males before producing offspring, selection favors adaptations that allow males to preempt sperm from previous males and to prevent their own sperm from preemption by future males. Since the 1970s, this area of research has seen exponential growth, and biologists now recognize sperm competition as an evolutionary force that drives such adaptations as mate guarding, genital morphology, and ejaculate chemistry across all animal taxa. The insects have been critical to this research, and they still offer the greatest potential to reveal fully the evolutionary consequences of sperm competition.


This book analyzes and extends thirty years of theoretical and empirical work on insect sperm competition. It considers both male and female interests in sperm utilization and the sexual conflict that can arise when these differ. It covers the mechanics of sperm transfer and utilization, morphology, physiology, and behavior. Sperm competition is shown to have dramatic effects on adaptation in the context of reproduction as well as far-reaching ramifications on life-history evolution and speciation.


Written by a top researcher in the field, this comprehensive, up-to-date review of the evolutionary causes and consequences of sperm competition in the insects will prove an invaluable reference for students and established researchers in behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691207032
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	12/31/2019
Series:	Monographs in Behavior and Ecology , #24
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	456
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Leigh W. Simmons is an Australian Research Council Senior Research Fellow and Research Professor in the Department of Zoology, University of Western Australia. He is an Associate Editor for Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology and Executive Editor of Animal Behavior.

Table of Contents

	Preface	ix
	Dedication and Acknowledgments	xv
1	Sexual Selection and Sperm Competition	1
1.1	Sexual Selection	1
1.2	Sexual Differences and the Evolution of Anisogamy	5
1.3	Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection	10
1.4	Summary	20
2	Sperm Utilization: Concepts, Patterns, and Processes	22
2.1	Introduction	22
2.2	Classification and Definition of Terms Used in the Sperm Competition Literature	23
2.3	Quantifying Paternity	29
2.4	Patterns of Sperm Utilization: An Overview	37
2.5	Mechanisms	40
2.6	Sperm Utilization and Multiple Mating	53
2.7	Sperm Utilization in Natural Populations	55
2.8	Mechanisms and the Potential for Selection	56
2.9	Summary	60
3	Avoidance of Sperm Competition I: Morphological Adaptations	69
3.1	Introduction	69
3.2	Internal Fertilization	69
3.3	Sperm Removal and Repositioning	70
3.4	Alternative Explanations for Complex Genitalia	82
3.5	Summary	89
4	Avoidance of Sperm Competition II: Physiological Adaptations	91
4.1	Introduction	91
4.2	Mating Plugs	97
4.3	Seminal Products	114
4.4	Pheromones	141
4.5	Summary	142
5	Avoidance of Sperm Competition III: Behavioral Adaptations	144
5.1	Introduction	144
5.2	Theoretical Models of Mate Guarding	146
5.3	Evidence for Mate Guarding in Insects	149
5.4	Alternative Hypotheses	168
5.5	Adaptations for Efficient Guarding	179
5.6	Male Mate Choice	183
5.7	Summary	186
6	Copula Duration	198
6.1	Introduction	198
6.2	Sperm Displacement: Optimal Copula Duration in Dung Flies	202
6.3	Copula Duration with Sperm Mixing	212
6.4	Evidence Consistent with an Optimization of Copula Duration	213
6.5	Female Influences	218
6.6	Alternative Explanations	220
6.7	Summary	221
7	Sperm in Competition I: Strategic Ejaculation	223
7.1	Introduction	223
7.2	Sperm Competition Games	227
7.3	Cryptic Male Choice	245
7.4	Cryptic Female Choice	247
7.5	Summary	249
8	Sperm in Competition II: Sperm Morphology	250
8.1	Introduction	250
8.2	Sperm Size	252
8.3	Sperm Polymorphism	263
8.4	Intraejaculate Sperm Competition	274
8.5	Summary	275
9	Ejaculate Manipulation: Mechanisms of Female Choice	277
9.1	Introduction	277
9.2	Influence over Remating	279
9.3	Influence over Sperm Transfer	282
9.4	Influence over Sperm Storage	288
9.5	Sperm Selection	299
9.6	Summary	317
10	Social Insects	319
10.1	Introduction	319
10.2	Multiple Mating and Multiple Paternity	320
10.3	Social Consequences of Sperm Competition	325
10.4	Alternative Hypotheses for Multiple Mating	334
10.5	Summary	341
11	Broader Significance	349
11.1	Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection	349
11.2	Life History Evolution	350
11.3	Speciation	354
11.4	Concluding Remarks	356
	References	357
	Taxonomic Index	427
	Subject Index	432

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The author succeeds admirably in giving a scholarly, erudite, and up-to-date review of the evolutionary causes and consequences of sperm competition in insects. He covers all the important areas in this field. Simmons is a top researcher in the field of insect sperm competition, knows the literature well, and uses it with skill."—Tim Birkhead, author of Promiscuity

"Leigh Simmons is an outstanding insect behavioral ecologist with an increasingly prominent international stature. Because of his contribution and standing, there will be an immediate appeal of this book, both to established researchers and to graduate students beginning projects in the area. It is written with great clarity, and the scientific integrity shown by the author is impressive. This is an excellent work of high scientific merit—one that makes a real attempt to take a broad and balanced view, while also making fundamental and significant new proposals for study and interpretation."—Geoff Parker, University of Liverpool

Editorial Reviews

"Leigh Simmons is better qualified than most to define the current state of sperm competition. This book is an exellent summary of a recent, important, and relatively large addition to our understanding of evolution and its consequences. It is an essential read for anyone interested in the reproductive determinates of fitness."—-Michael T. Siva-Jothy, Nature

From the Publisher

"An introductory chapter clearly presents fundamental concepts and terms and general methods used for quantifying sperm competition. . . . Numerous figures and tables enhance the value of this work, which includes more than 1,000 references. Highly recommended for evolutionary biologists, behavioral ecologists, and entomologists."

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