Document type
ArticleVersion
Accepted versionPublication date
All rights reserved
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/67343
Females of the cellar spider discriminate against previous mates
Journal Title
Director/Tutor
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Related resource
Abstract
Mate choice for novel partners should evolve when remating with males of varying genetic quality provides females with fitness enhancing benefits. We investigated sequential mate choice for same or novel mating partners in females of the cellar spider Pholcus phalangioides (Pholcidae) to understand what drives female remating in this system. Pholcus phalan- gioides females are moderately polyandrous and show reluctance to remating, but double-mated females benefit from a higher oviposition probability compared to single-mated females. We exposed mated females to either their former (same male) or a novel mating partner and assessed mating success together with courtship and copulatory behaviours in both sexes. We found clear evidence for mate discrimination: females experienced three fold higher remating probabilities with novel males, being more often aggressive towards former males and accepting novel males faster in the second than in the first mating trial. The preference for novel males suggests that remating is driven by benefits derived from multiple partners. The low remating rates and the strong last male sperm precedence in this system suggest that mating with novel partners that represent alternative genotypes may be a means for selecting against a former mate of lower quality.
Subject
Subject (English)
Citation
Citation
MESTRE, Laia, RODRÍGUEZ TEIJEIRO, José Domingo and TUNI, Cristina. Females of the cellar spider discriminate against previous mates. Ethology. 2015. Vol. 121, num. 994-1001. ISSN 0179-1613. [consulted: 10 of June of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/67343