Postcopulatory sexual selection (PCSS), comprised of sperm competition and cryptic female
choice, has emerged as a widespread evolutionary force among polyandrous animals …

Obligate eusociality with distinct caste phenotypes has evolved from strictly monogamous
sub-social ancestors in ants, some bees, some wasps and some termites. This implies that …

ABSTRACT A central paradigm in evolutionary biology is that the fundamental divergence in
the fitness interests of the sexes ('sexual conflict') can lead to both the evolution of sex …

Insects display a staggering diversity of mating and social behaviours. Studying these
systems provides insights into a wide range of evolutionary and behavioural questions, such …

Sperm production and allocation strategies have been a central concern of sperm
competition research for the past 50 years. But during the 'sexual cascade'there may be …

Drosophila melanogaster females experience a large shift in energy homeostasis after
mating to compensate for nutrient investment in egg production. To cope with this change in …

In many animals, females respond to mating with changes in physiology and behavior that
are triggered by molecules transferred by males during mating. In Drosophila melanogaster …

The biogenic monoamine octopamine (OA) is a crucial regulator of invertebrate physiology
and behavior. Since its discovery in the 1950s in octopus salivary glands, OA has been …

Sex peptide (SP), a seminal fluid protein of Drosophila melanogaster males, has been
described as driving a virgin-to-mated switch in females, through eliciting an array of …

Background The female reproductive tract is exposed directly to the male's ejaculate,
making it a hotspot for mating-induced responses. In Drosophila melanogaster, changes in …