Search results for "Copulation"
showing 7 items of 17 documents
The Construct of Sexual Openness for Females in Steady Intimate Relationships
2017
The analysis of open-minded attitudes towards sexuality in general requires a construct based on attitudinal dimensions. Although several existing studies involve sexual attitudes, they differ substantially and standardized conceptual work is missing. Thus, the authors introduce the latent variable sexual openness to develop a construct based on self-oriented attitudes towards different sexual topics. Available survey data of female German students in a steady relationship allowed providing a first empirical test for the applicability of this construct. Five subdimensions are acknowledged central for sexual openness: sexual practices, masturbation, bisexuality, permissiveness, and pornograp…
Postcopulatory sexual selection generates speciation phenotypes in Drosophila.
2013
Background: Identifying traits that reproductively isolate species and the selective forces underlying their divergence is a central goal of evolutionary biology and speciation research. There is growing recognition that postcopulatory sexual selection which can drive rapid diversification of interacting ejaculate and female reproductive tract traits that mediate sperm competition may be an engine of speciation. Conspecific sperm precedence (CSP) is a taxonomically widespread form of reproductive isolation but the selective causes and divergent traits responsible for CSP are poorly understood. Results: To test the hypothesis that postcopulatory sexual selection can generate reproductive iso…
Sexual conflict over the duration of copulation in Drosophila montana: why is longer better?
2009
Background Conflicts of interest between the sexes are increasingly recognized as an engine driving the (co-)evolution of reproductive traits. The reproductive behaviour of Drosophila montana suggests the occurrence of sexual conflict over the duration of copulation. During the last stages of copulation, females vigorously attempt to dislodge the mounting male, while males struggle to maintain genital contact and often successfully extend copulations far beyond the females' preferred duration. Results By preventing female resistance, we show that females make a substantial contribution towards shortening copulations. We staged matings under different sex ratio conditions, and provide eviden…
Floral scent in a sexually deceptive Ophrys orchid: from headspace collections to solvent extractions
2018
Sexually deceptive orchid flowers use visual, tactile and olfactory cues of female insects in order to attract males of one or a few closely related species as pollinators. Ophrys L. is the most species-rich genus of sexually deceptive orchids in the Mediterranean Basin. Despite Ophrys pollinated by Andrena male bees use alkanes and mainly alkenes with specific double-bond positions as key signals that trigger pseudocopulatory behavior, some volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with low molecular weight were found as long-range attractants non-eliciting copulatory behavior. Since floral scents in Ophrys have been extensively studied by solvent extractions here we aimed to understand which flor…
Biocontrol of drosophila suzukii by two fatty acids
2020
International audience; Olfaction is a crucial sense for insects to detect food, seek partners or escape dangers. Volatile molecules are mainly perceived through insects' antenna. Odors bind to specific olfactory receptors located in sensilla. Olfactory sensory neurons then synapse on corresponding specific glomeruli of the antennal lobe, the primary olfaction center. This olfactory information is processed in higher centers to trigger a behavioral response. Understanding how odors can influence insect behavior is fundamental in order to protect cultures from pests. In this work, 2 volatile fatty acids are shown to modify significantly Drosophila suzukii courtship and copulation at increasi…
State-dependent pairing behaviour in male Gammarus pulex (L.) (Crustacea, Amphipoda): effects of time left to moult and prior pairing status
2004
Because mating can be costly in terms of time and energy, an individual's propensity to engage in courtship and mating activities might be modulated by its physiological state. However, so far, state-dependent mate choice has received little attention The present study examined the effect of both prior pairing status and time left to the moult on the ability of male Gammarus pulex (Crustacea, Amphipoda) to enter in precopula with receptive females. In the lab, males that were freshly collected in precopula pairs in the field had a higher probability of re-pairing and were quicker to enter in precopula with receptive females compared to males of similar size that were freshly collected unpai…
Pair-bonding in birds and the active role of females: a critical review of the empirical evidence.
2000
Over the recent years the role of females in maintaining or breaking the pair-bond in socially monogamous birds has received growing attention. Here, we review the overall evidence for a direct and predominant role of female behaviour in initiating or preventing divorce and its relevance for the understanding of both interspecific and intraspecific variation in divorce rate in monogamous bird species. The evidence is so far limited to a few species. We discuss the relevance of some alternative explanations and confounding factors. We conclude that the possible predominance of females in both initiating divorce or limiting its occurrence deserves further consideration. Future studies should …