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Quantification of role reversal in relative parental investment in a bush cricket

Nature volume 358, pages 61–63 (1992)Cite this article

Abstract

SEXUAL differences in courtship roles are thought to depend on the ratio of sexually available females to males1–3. This 'operational sex ratio'3 should be biased towards the sex investing least in reproduction because they will have the higher potential reproductive rate4. Thus relative parental investment1,2 is thought to underlie observed courtship roles. Typically, males have the lower investment and compete for choosy females2,3,5. But role reversal can occur when males invest parentally2,3. Recent evidence supports the contentions that role reversal reflects shifts in the potential reproductive rates of males and females4and shifts in the operational sex ratio6. Cases of male investment exceeding female investment in role-reversed species have not been found. In some insects, males invest in reproduction by providing the female with nutrients used for zygote production7,8. Here I report the measurement of male and female investment in reproduction for a nutrient-provisioning bush cricket (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) and demonstrate that reversals in relative parental investment underlie courtship role reversals seen in this species6,9.

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  1. Department of Zoology, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, 6009, Australia

    L. W. Simmons

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Simmons, L. Quantification of role reversal in relative parental investment in a bush cricket. Nature 358, 61–63 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/358061a0

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