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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 9, 2026

Observation and Quantification of Mating Behavior in the Pinewood Nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus

Observation and Quantification of Mating Behavior in the Pinewood Nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus

Published on: December 25, 2016

The repeatability of mating failure in a polyandrous bug.

E V Ginny Greenway¹, D M Shuker¹

¹School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9TH, UK.

Journal of Evolutionary Biology

|June 19, 2015

Summary

Mating failure in seed bugs is a consistent male trait, not random chance. This reproductive issue has low heritability, suggesting environmental factors influence male mating success.

Keywords:

insect reproduction mating failure polyandry sexual selection

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary Biology
Behavioral Ecology
Reproductive Biology

Background:

Mating failure, the absence of offspring post-copulation, is widespread but poorly understood across species.
Existing theories suggest mating failures are either random events between incompatible pairs or consistent individual traits.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the nature of mating failure in the seed bug Lygaeus simulans.
To determine if mating failure is a repeatable phenotype in males or a stochastic event.

Main Methods:

Sequential mating trials were conducted using families of Lygaeus simulans males.
Males were randomly paired with unrelated females to assess mating outcome repeatability.
Repeatability of mating success was calculated for individual males and their families.

Main Results:

Mating outcome showed significant repeatability for individual males.
No significant repeatability of mating outcome was observed across full-sib brothers.
This indicates mating failure is a male-associated, consistent phenotype.

Conclusions:

Mating failure in Lygaeus simulans is a persistent male phenotype, not solely due to random incompatibility.
The trait exhibits low heritability, implying significant environmental influences on male reproductive success.
Further research is needed to identify the specific environmental factors affecting male mating failure.