Effects of age and repeated mating on male sperm supply and paternity in a parasitoid wasp

Post-copulatory paternity biases after female multiple mating are major constraints on both male and female reproductive systems. The outcome of paternity in certain situations is only controlled directly by male sperm stock. This was tested experimentally in the parasitoid wasp Anisopteromalus cala...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Entomologia experimentalis et applicata 2009-02, Vol.130 (2), p.207-213
Main Authors: Bressac, Christophe, Thi Khanh, Hong Do, Chevrier, Claude
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ageing
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Anisopteromalus calandrae
Anisopteromalus calandrae
Autoecology
Biological and medical sciences
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hymenoptera
Life Sciences
male reproduction
multiple mating
offspring paternity
Protozoa. Invertebrata
Pteromalidae
Reproductive Biology
Sexual reproduction
sperm competition
sperm raffle
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Summary:Post-copulatory paternity biases after female multiple mating are major constraints on both male and female reproductive systems. The outcome of paternity in certain situations is only controlled directly by male sperm stock. This was tested experimentally in the parasitoid wasp Anisopteromalus calandrae (Howard) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), in which sperm stocks are small (several hundred) and the fertilizing efficiency of stored sperm is high (the ratio of sperm stored/fertilized eggs is about 0.75). Sperm in seminal vesicles and paternity of males of different status (virgin young, virgin old, or young previously mated) were measured after female single and double mating. The amount of sperm in the seminal vesicle differed according to male status (increasing from previously mated males to old males), but there was no difference in sperm stored by females after a single mating. In double mating experiments with two males of different status, paternity increased linearly with the relative amount of sperm in seminal vesicles. Paternity distribution conforms to 'a fair raffle' of sperm from both donors following complete mixing of sperm prior to fertilization. Thus, in a female multiple mating context, male fitness depends principally on their sperm stock, which in turn depends on life history parameters, such as age and previous mating.
ISSN:0013-8703
1570-7458
DOI:10.1111/j.1570-7458.2008.00810.x