LIFETIME MATING SUCCESS IN MALE SAGEBRUSH CRICKETS - SEXUAL SELECTIONCONSTRAINED BY A VIRGIN MALE MATING ADVANTAGE

Lifetime mating success of individually marked, male sagebrush cricket s, Cyphoderris strepitans, was studied in a field enclosure over 2 yea rs. Male mating was inferred on the basis of damage to the hind wings upon which females feed during copulation. There was a virgin male mat ing advantage in both years. Male mating success was correlated with a dult longevity and nights during the season spent singing, but not wit h male mass. The opportunity for sexual selection differed between yea rs and appeared to be constrained by the observed virgin male mating a dvantage. The spatial distribution of males was variable within season s, and changed over the course of both seasons. Mating in sagebrush cr ickets resembles that of some frog species where chorus tenure is the best predictor of male lifetime mating success. (C) 1996 The Associati on for the Study of Animal Behaviour.