Fisherian flies: benefits of female choice in a lekking sandfly

Abstract

We experimentally investigated the fitness consequences of female mate choice in order to test the relative importance of three competing but non-exclusive hypotheses for the maintenance of pronounced female mating preferences on leks: that females benefit directly; that they gain indirect Fisherian benefits by producing more attractive sons; or that they benefit indirectly because preferred males possess 'good genes' that confer increased viability on their sons and daughters. We allowed lekking female sandflies, Lutzomyia longipalpis, to choose between males of varying attractiveness to females, and monitored the consequences for their own survival and reproductive success as well as for t..