Owner positional disadvantage in contests over mating prevents monopolization of females

Abstract

The act of mating may render individuals vulnerable by inhibiting mobility and defence. While the consequences of this vulnerability for predation risk are well known, the implications for male-male contests over mating have been largely ignored. We examined the influence of vulnerability during mating by assessing the effectiveness of asymmetries in resource-holding potential (RHP) and subjective resource value (female mating status) in determining access to females in a resident-intruder scenario. In the earwig Euborellia brunneri, mating males are vulnerable to attack because they cannot use their armaments, and may risk breakage of their extremely elongated intromittent organs. We expect..