I came across an article last week (Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 65:149-156) about mating behavior in the earwig Euborellia brunneri. I couldn't help but notice a study about the role that length of male genitals plays in female mate choice. LOL
I hadn't realized that male earwigs had such long genitalia (longer than the body!), which in part seems to be about sperm competition (removing sperm from other males and depositing sperm out of reach of "less endowed" males), but perhaps also due to cryptic female choice for lengthier genitals.
I wrote about it in my blog and provided a link to the study.
http://bird-n-bee.blogspot.com/2011/03/earwig-genitals-size-really-does-matter.html
At first I had one of those "geez, people will study anything!" reactions but the study really is quite cool - particularly the cryptic nature of female choice.
Scott
I hadn't realized that male earwigs had such long genitalia (longer than the body!), which in part seems to be about sperm competition (removing sperm from other males and depositing sperm out of reach of "less endowed" males), but perhaps also due to cryptic female choice for lengthier genitals.
I wrote about it in my blog and provided a link to the study.
http://bird-n-bee.blogspot.com/2011/03/earwig-genitals-size-really-does-matter.html
At first I had one of those "geez, people will study anything!" reactions but the study really is quite cool - particularly the cryptic nature of female choice.
Scott