The
decorated cricket, Gryllodes sigillatus occurs in
tropical regions throughout the world. Like many insects, male
decorated crickets offer females a courtship food gift at the
time of mating. This gift comes in the form of a spermatophylax,
which is a large, jelly-like ball attached to the spermatophore.
Shortly after mating, the female bends at her abdomen and
removes the spermatophylax with her mouthparts, leaving the
sperm-containing ampulla attached to her genital opening. When
the spermatophylax has been consumed, the female bends again and
removes the sperm-ampulla, consuming it as well.
Sakaluk, S.K. 1997.
Cryptic female choice predicated on wing dimorphism in
decorated crickets. Behavioral Ecology 8: 326-331.
Sakaluk, S.K. and
A.-K. Eggert. 1996. Female control of sperm transfer and
intraspecific variation in sperm precedence: antecedents
to the evolution of a courtship food gift. Evolution 50:
694-703.
Frankino, W.A. and
S.K. Sakaluk. 1994. Post-copulatory mate guarding delays
promiscuous mating by female decorated crickets. Animal
Behaviour 48: 1479-1481.
Will, M.W. and S.K.
Sakaluk. 1994. Courtship feeding in decorated crickets:
is the spermatophylax a sham? Animal Behaviour 48:
1309-1315.
Eggert, A.-K. and S.K.
Sakaluk. 1994. Fluctuating asymmetry and variation in the
size of courtship food gifts in decorated crickets.
American Naturalist 144: 708-716.
Current Research Involving G.
sigillatus
Tracie Ivy's
Master's Project
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