Female competition

THE FCST A MEASURE OF FEMALE-FEMALE COMPETITION STRESS... 

In mammals, males usually have stronger odors, larger and/or more scent glands, scent mark more often, and respond more to alien scent marks. Selection on the basis of odor differences can take place at the level of the individual, deme, population, or subspecies. In polygamous species, intrasexual selection via male-male or female-female competition and sexual selection can be most intense. Most mammals are polygamous, so odor dimorphism is probably widespread (Blaustein, 1981). 

Haigh, G. R. (1987). Reproductive inhibitionoiieruaJePeromyscus leucopus female competition and behavioral regulation. American Zoologist 27,867-868. 

Nesse IGF2R is a peculiar gene in that it is sexually imprinted, and it has been proposed to be related to male-female competition over the size of the offspring. Have you any thoughts about this ... 

Haigh, G.R. 1987. Reproductive inhibition of female Peromyscus leucopus female competition and behavioral regulation. Am. Zool, 27, 867—878. 

The unit was taught in six schools. Two hundred and twenty six students (13-14 years) were involved in the action research (120 females and 106 males). To provide anonymity of participants and to avoid competition between the participating schools, the schools were labelled 1 to 6. 

Fisher, H.S., Swaisgood, R.R. and Fitch-Snyder, H. (2003) Countermarking by pygmy lorises (Nycticebus pygmaeus) do females use odor cues to select mates with high competitive ability Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 53, 123-130. 

Wedell, N., Gage, M.J.G. and Parker, G.A. (2002) Sperm competition, male prudence and sperm-limited females. Trends Ecol. Evol. 17, 313-320. 

Wong, B.B.M. and Candolin, U. (2005) How is female mate choice affected by male competition Biol. Rev. 80, 1-13. 

We also have evidence of how the female assesses the size of her mating partners. She appears to do so indirectly, by gauging the size of their spermatophore, for which purpose she may use stretch receptors that female moths are known to have in the chamber (bursa) in which spermatophores are deposited (29). Male Utetheisa can be caused to produce inordinately small spermatophores if they are mated relatively recently beforehand. If such mated males are placed in competition with physically smaller males, whose spermatophores may now be the relatively larger ones, they tend to "lose out" (30). We predict from this that males, in nature, may space their matings days apart. To regain the capacity to produce full size spermatophores takes a male about a week (30). 

COPULATION, MASTURBATION AND INFIDELITY SPERM COMPETITION AND FEMALE SEXUAL STRATEGY... 

One of the themes of this paper is that the importance of sperm competition varies at different stages in both male and female sexual ontogeny. This section is concerned with the role of sperm competition in female sexual strategy. 

The second phase (Phase II) begins when the female (ideally) has found and attracted a male who is an acceptable compromise in terms of the genes and resources offered. Reproduction eventually begins. The woman s second child is the most likely of all her children to have been fathered by her partner, the first sometimes having been fathered by one of her previous male partners (towards the end of Phase I) (Schacht and Ger-showitz 1963 Baker and Beilis 1995). In the middle of Phase II, fidelity is at its greatest and the risk of sperm competition at its lowest. 

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