Although costs of mating have been widely documented in females, intrinsic costs of copulation have been poorly documented in males, and there is little evidence that such costs constrain male mating success under natural conditions. Male sagebrush crickets, Cyphoderris strepitans, offer females...

We use the natural propensity for least flycatchers (Empidonax minimus) to form dense territorial clusters to test the hidden lek hypothesis as an explanation for clustering behavior. The hidden lek hypothesis proposes that socially monogamous males can cluster their all-purpose territories...

The evolution of colorful plumage has been dramatic in lekking species. Several studies show that the size of colorful traits influence female choice in leks; however, relatively little is known about the specific function of color, in particular its spectral properties, in lekking taxa. To...

The differential allocation hypothesis predicts that females invest more resources into reproduction when mating with attractive males. In oviparous animals this can include prefertilization decisions such as the production of larger eggs and the deposition of hormones, such as the steroid...

The evolutionary dynamic of courtship signaling systems is driven by the interaction between male trait distributions and female preferences. This interaction is complex because females may choose mates based on multiple components of male signals, and female preference functions may vary...

A simple version of the immunocompetence handicap hypothesizes that through condition-dependence, the size of the sexual trait may be positively related to immune function at the population level. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between sexual advertisement and immune...

Much attention has been devoted to understanding the evolution of elaborate male ornaments and how they may signal male quality. However, the evolution of multicomponent sexual signals remains poorly understood, and past research on this type of signaling has been largely theoretical. Satin...

Reproductive behavior influences gene flow within and among species; thus, sexual selection may be a major contributor to the maintenance of species, and possibly their formation. Here I experimentally manipulate the courtship interactions of the field crickets Gryllus rubens and G. texensis to...

Cryptic female choice in crickets occurs through the premature removal of a male's spermatophore after copulation, which terminates sperm transfer. Although it is known that this behavior can directly influence the paternity of offspring, its effects on female fitness have not been directly...

Females in some species of Old World monkeys and apes vocalize after copulation, but the function of these vocalizations is not clear. In this article, we examine the hypothesis that copulation calls are a form of postcopulatory female choice. According to this hypothesis, copulation calls are...