Indirect sperm transfer and male mating strategies in soil invertebrates

Many soil invertebrates transfer their sperm indirectly by means of spermat ophores. Among the different taxa there is great variation in spermatophore architecture, auxiliary structures and behaviour. The behaviour, ranging f rom elaborate courtship rituals to seemingly indifferent scattering of sper matophores, can roughly be classified as association and dissociation. Whic h of the two is adaptive depends on many factors which can be summarized in a simple functional response model showing that in some cases the best cho ice depends on density.