Title

Mate Disruption in the Water Strider Aquaris remigis Say, 1832 (Hemiptera: Gerridae)

Authors

Omar T. Eldakar, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Andrew C. Gallup, State University of New York

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-2014

Publication Title

Aquatic Insects: International Journal of Freshwater Entomology

Keywords

Hemiptera, Aquarius remigis, Water Strider, Interference competition, Mate disruption, Sexual selection

ISSN

0165-0424

Volume

35

Issue/No.

3-4

First Page

89

Last Page

97

Abstract

This report describes the behaviour of a previously uncharacterised mating tactic amongst male water striders (Aquarius remigis Say, 1832), involving the physical break up of existing mating pairs. Using data from four separate laboratory observations on the water strider mating system, we show that this behaviour represents roughly 12.6% of all mating attempts by males. Furthermore, we demonstrate that males are successful in breaking up the existing mating pair in 15.6% of the cases, resulting in secure matings with the disrupted female 6.2% of time. We suspect that mate disruption may serve as an alternative means for acquiring mates by males with low mating success using conventional behaviours. Further research should be performed to determine the prevalence of this behaviour in various natural populations and the specific contexts in which this behaviour occurs.

NSUWorks Citation

Eldakar, Omar T. and Andrew C. Gallup. 2014. "Mate Disruption in the Water Strider Aquaris remigis Say, 1832 (Hemiptera: Gerridae)." Aquatic Insects: International Journal of Freshwater Entomology 35, (3-4): 89-97. doi:10.1080/01650424.2014.948457.

ORCID ID

0000-0002-4807-4979

DOI

10.1080/01650424.2014.948457