MALE REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS IN WYEOMYIA-SMITHII (DIPTERA, CULICIDAE)

Lifetime offspring sired by males increases with both male longevity and the rate of female availability. High rates of female availability saturate male ability to sire increasing offspring but do not affect male survivorship. When presented with a saturating number of females in two sequential, 24-h bouts, offspring sired in the second bout is independent of offspring sired in the first bout and is independent of recovery time between bouts. Our results suggest that males will pass up the opportunity to mate and, in so doing, avoid a physiological cost to future reproductive effort or to residual longevity.