Male Mate Choice And Traumatic Mating Of Three Scorpionflies(Mecoptera:Panorpidae)

Mate choice plays a significant role in the reproductive behaviors in insects.However,due to the tortuous development of sexual selection and the neglect of people,the study of male mate choice is considerably scarce yet.Little research basis has been conducted for the particular form of mate choice associated with traumatic mating.Scorpionflies have complex mating behaviors,such as the male offering salivary secretions or prey as nuptial gifts to the female during mating,and the traumatic mating behavior of some male scorpionflies penetrating the lateral membrane of the female genital segment with the sharp basal process on the inner side of the male gonostylus during mating causing damage to the internal and external structures of the female genitalia.Previous studies have shown that mate choice in scorpionflies tends to be dominated by females.However,whether male scorpionflies participate in mate choice has not been examined to date.In this thesis,behavioral observations and selection experiments are used to investigate the mating strategy selection and mate choice of males for females with different trauma and mating status in three species of Panorpidae.This thesis sheds light on the effects of two selection decisions and their interaction on mating in different species.The main results are shown in the following:(1)Male mate choice against females of different disability status in Panorpa chengi: When giving gifts,P.chengi males preferred to select normal females,while disabled females when not.Male offering rate was lower when males mated with disabled females.The mating success of males was higher with nuptial gifts,and the difference in mating success of males under different gift-offering conditions was pronounced when males mated with normal females.Mating duration was shorter when males mated with normal females.(2)Male mate choice against females of different mating states in Sinopanorpa tincta: There was no significant difference in the mate preference and the offering rate of males for females in different mating states in S.tincta.Male mating success was higher in the presence of nuptial gifts,and the difference in mating success of males under different gift-offering conditions was pronounced when males mated with non-virgin females.Mating duration was longer when nuptial gifts were offered.(3)Male mate choice against females of different mating states in Dicerapanorpa magna: There was no significant difference in the mate preference and offering rate of males for females in different mating states in D.magna.The mating success of males for females in different mating states was higher when males gave nuptial gifts.The difference in male mating success between different gift-offering conditions was pronounced when males mated with non-virgin females.The mating duration was longer with nuptial gifts and shorter without.The difference in mating duration between different gift-offering conditions was pronounced when males mated with non-virgin females.In this study,we found that male mate choice is present in scorpionflies,with males having the ability to assess mate quality based on female trauma,and male mate preferences may vary under different mating strategies.In scorpionflies,there is an interaction between mating strategy selection and mate choice,both of which have implications for mating.The effects vary between scorpionfly species.