Pale by comparison: competitive interactions between signaling female glow-worms

Anna-Maria Borshagovski, Gautier Baudry, Juhani Hopkins and Arja Kaitala

Behavioral Ecology, 2019, vol. 30, issue 1, 20-26

Abstract: When individuals differ in attractiveness, less attractive ones may fail to mate. In the common glow-worm, females glow to attract flying males, which prefer brighter females. We show that females move away from more attractive competitors, possibly to avoid comparison. In nature, females glowed far from each other. As distance between females may affect how males perceive female attractiveness, dim females may appear bright if close by and if comparison is not possible for males.

Keywords: female mate attraction; Lampyris noctiluca; sexual competition; reproductive tactics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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