Give Her Cotton

All throughout the animal kingdom, males can win the favor of females by giving them presents.  Some of these so-called nuptial gifts, such as food, are useful to the females, but recent research has found that females can be exploited by males who bring them easily obtainable token gifts.

Natasha LeBas and Leon Hockham from the University of St. Andrews replaced the food item that male empidid dance flies usually give females with either a larger edible gift or an inedible cotton ball.  For other empidid species, a worthless cotton ball is an acceptable nuptial gift.

The biologists found that copulation was longest when a female received a large food gift, but the females who received the cotton balls mated with their suitors just as long as those who received a small nutritious gift.

These findings, published in the Jan. 11 issue of Current Biology, may explain how males who take the easy route by giving mere baubles can invade a species in which males are more "thoughtful" with their gift choices. 

-- LiveScience Staff

Credit: LeBas and Hockham/Current Biology