A test of the sexy-sperm and good-sperm hypotheses for the evolution of polyandry

Abstract

The sexy-sperm hypothesis proposes that polyandrous females will have a selective advantage over monandrous females as their sons will be sired by males with competitively superior sperm and will inherit this trait. Although the good-sperm hypothesis also predicts that offspring will be sired by males with competitively superior sperm, it additionally assumes a positive correlation between offspring sperm quality and the general viability of both sons and daughters. We examined the potential for sexy-sperm and good-sperm processes by exploring the effect of polyandry on offspring sperm quality and immunocompetence in the field cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus, a species in which sperm viabili..