Male condition, female choice, and extreme variation in repeated mating ina scaly cricket, Ornebius aperta (Orthoptera : Gryllidae : Mogoplistinae)

Mating in the scaly cricket Ornebius aperta often includes the transfer of many spermatophores to individual females during extended copulatory intera ctions We manipulated male condition in staged matings to determine whether this could explain variation in the number of repeated copulations seen ac ross pairs. Males on a high nutrient diet were in good condition, were more likely to mate repeatedly, and transferred more spermatophores on average than low-diet males (in poor condition). High-diet males were more likely t o produce a vibratory signal that increased female receptivity to repeated mating attempts. Courtship cmd copulatory interactions were always terminat ed by females, and in every case males had already formed a spermatophore w hen deserted by females. We conclude that variation in male repeated mating success may be due to female choice rather than an inability or un willing ness of low-diet males to produce spermatophores.