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Science 10 February 1984:
Vol. 223. no. 4636, pp. 609 - 610
DOI: 10.1126/science.223.4636.609
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Articles

Male Crickets Feed Females to Ensure Complete Sperm Transfer

SCOTT K. SAKALUK 1

1 Department of Zoology, Erindale College, University of Toronto, Ontario, Mississauga, Canada LSL 1C6

The spermatophore transferred by the male decorated cricket Gryllodes supplicans to the female during copulation includes a large gelatinous portion (spermatophylax), which the female removes and feeds on immediately after mating. Females usually removed and ate the smaller sperm-containing portion (ampulla) within 1 to 7 minutes after fully consuming or losing the spermatophylax. Complete sperm transfer requires that the ampulla remain attached for a minimum of 50 minutes; this corresponds to the average time at which females actually removed ampullae, 52.0 ± 2.2 minutes after mating. These results indicate that nuptial feeding of the female cricket functions to deter females from removing the sperm ampulla before sperm transfer is complete.

Submitted on August 5, 1983
Accepted on December 12, 1983


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