Fitness advantage from nuptial gifts in female fireflies

Abstract

1. In many insects, males provide nuptial gifts to females in the form of spermatophores, sperm‐containing structures produced by male accessory glands. 2. The work reported here examined the influence of both spermatophore number and spermatophore size on female reproductive output in two related firefly beetles, Photinus ignitus and Ellychnia corrusca (Coleoptera: Lampyridae). Based on differences in adult diet, male spermatophores were predicted to increase female reproductive output to a greater extent in P. ignitus than in E. corrusca. 3. Female fecundity was significantly higher in triply mated females than in singly mated females in both species, with no difference between mating treatments in female lifespan or egg hatching success. No effects of second male spermatophore size on fecundity, lifespan, or egg hatching success were detected in either species. 4. These results suggest a direct fitness advantage from multiple mating for females in both species, although enhanced fecundity may be due either to allocation of spermatophore nutrients to eggs or to other substances transferred within the spermatophore acting as oviposition stimulants.

Nuptial food gifts influence female egg production in the scorpionfly Panorpa cognata

“…Baker et al , 2001;Drnevich et al , 2001 ) and substances in the ejaculate may induce egg production (see, for example, Chapman et al , 1998 ) and stimulate oviposition ( Leopold, 1976;Eberhard, 1996 ). Therefore, in many studies demonstrating direct benefits from nuptial gifts ( Hayashi, 1998;Ryne et al , 2001;Fedorka & Mousseau, 2002;Rooney & Lewis, 2002 ; for earlier papers see Vahed, 1998 ) it is difficult to disentangle benefits from nuptial feeding from other effects resulting from multiple mating or increased sperm transfer (but see Gwynne, 1984;Steele, 1986;Simmons, 1988Simmons, , 1990Brown, 1997;Reinhold, 1999 ). In this study, using the scorpionfly Panorpa cognata (Ramb.)…”

Sexual dimorphism, mating systems, and nuptial gifts in two Asian fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae)

“…Because of this, such gifts could potentially alter the allocation strategies used by both sexes (Boggs, 1990(Boggs, , 2009. Previous work in Photinus fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) has shown that females incorporate proteins derived from male gifts (spermatophores) into their developing oocytes (Rooney and Lewis, 1999), and that such gifts benefit females by increasing their lifetime fecundity (Rooney and Lewis, 2002) and longevity . A phylogenetic study within the Lampyridae recently demonstrated correlated evolution between flightlessness in females and male production of nuptial gifts .…”

Elucidating food plants of the aggregative, synchronously flashing Southeast Asian firefly, Pteroptyx tener Olivier (Coleoptera, Lampyridae)

“…The males of Photinus and Luciola fireflies also provide nutrition to conspecific females during copulation (Rooney and Lewis 1999;Cratsley et al 2003;South et al 2008a;South et al 2008b;South and Lewis 2012). These nuptial gifts contain nutrients essential for egg production in Photinus females (Rooney and Lewis 2002;Cratsley et al 2003;Lewis et al 2004). Photuris fireflies however have a slightly different way of obtaining nutrition.…”