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Precopulatory mate guarding in an amphipod, Gammarus lawrencianus bousfield

1986; Elsevier BV; Volume: 34; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0003-3472(86)80255-x

1095-8282

Philip J. Dunham, Tyra D. Alexander, Alan Hurshman,

Crustacean biology and ecology

Traditional theoretical accounts of crustacean mate guarding have assumed that changes associated with the female's reproductive state elicit the mate guarding behaviour of the male. The present study systematically examined the effects of both the male and female reproductive states on the precopulatory mate guarding decision of the amphipod Gammarus lawrencianus. Independent manipulation of the male and female variables indicated that both contributed additively to the probability of precopulatory mate guarding. When considered together, the results demonstrate that females that are closer to the post-moult copulation state are more likely to be guarded; and that males are more likely to enter the mate guarding relationship as the time since their last copulation increases. An adequate theoretical account of crustancean precopulatory mate guarding must, therefore, consider the contribution of both the male and the female reproductive states to the mate guarding decision.