Longer matings increase male competitive fertilization success in <em>Drosophila melanogaster</em>

Copulation duration is a variable behavior that is often extended by males beyond the time needed for sperm transfer. In many insect species, these prolonged matings have been linked to higher male reproductive success with virgin females. However, most matings in multiply-mating species involve non-virgin females, whose role in shaping the evolution of this behavior remains underexplored. Using hemiclonal analysis in Drosophila melanogaster, we tested whether males benefit from extended matings with non-virgin females by comparing competitive fertilization success (P2) between males from three long-mating and three short-mating hemiclone lines. We confirmed that differences among hemiclone lines in male mating duration with virgin females persisted with non-virgin females and that these longer matings were associated with higher P2, demonstrating a clear fitness benefit to males. These findings build on past work showing that longer matings increase male defensive reproductive success,..., , # Data from: Longer matings increase male competitive fertilization success in *Drosophila melanogaster* ## Description of the data and file structure **HCMDP2_MV.csv** *Mating duration data from the mating duration experiment with virgin and non-virgin large and small females. Data are only shown for hemiclone males that mated. Data are displayed in Figure 1.* “Block” = the experimental block “Observer” = the observer “Vial” = the vial label for that block \"Clone\" = the specific hemiclone line “Treatment” = the mating duration treatment (Long or Short) for that hemiclone line “FemSize” = the size of the female the male was paired with (\"L\" = large, \"S\" = small) \"FemStatus\" = the mating status of the female the male was paired with (M= mated/non-virgin, V = virgin) \"CloneDuration\" = the mating duration for the hemiclone male in minutes. **HCMDP2_Remate.csv** *Female remating data from the male offensive reproductive success experiment.* “Block” = the experimental block “Observer” = ...,