Abstract. The Eucalyptus weevil, Gonipterus scutellatus, shows a complex copulation behaviour whose duration is extremely variable, from less than one hour to more than two days. We tested different hypotheses that could explain the... more
Abstract. The Eucalyptus weevil, Gonipterus scutellatus, shows a complex copulation behaviour whose duration is extremely variable, from less than one hour to more than two days. We tested different hypotheses that could explain the adaptive significance of prolonged copulations. Male genitalia is unable to reach to the interior of the espermatheca of the female, where the sperm of previous matings are stored, so prolonged copulation does not function to remove rivals' sperm.
Odonates are considered to be among the oldest insects (Silsby 2001), with fossil odonatoid insects known from the upper Carboniferous (about 300 million years ago). Although they have changed very little in morphology since the Jurassic... more
Odonates are considered to be among the oldest insects (Silsby 2001), with fossil odonatoid insects known from the upper Carboniferous (about 300 million years ago). Although they have changed very little in morphology since the Jurassic (65 million years), their behavior is by no means simple, showing pre-copulatory courtship, intense male–male contests, post-copulatory associations between males and females, and other elaborate behaviors (figure 15.1).
