Mating status affects female choice in Chloridea virescens

Sexual selection in animals has been mostly studied in species in which
males are signallers and females are choosers. However, in many species
females are (also) signallers. In species with non-signalling females,
virgin females are hypothesized to be less choosy than mated females, as
virgins must mate to realize fitness and the number of available males is
generally limited. Yet, when females signal to attract males, mate
limitation can be overcome. We tested how virgin and mated females differ
in their calling behaviour, mating latency, and in mate choice, using the
tobacco budworm Chloridea (Heliothis) virescens as an example for a
species in which females are not only choosers but also signallers. We
found that virgin females signalled longer than mated females, but virgin
and mated signalling females were equally ready to mate, in contrast to
non-signalling females. However, we found that virgin signalling females
showed weaker mate preference than mated females, which can be explained
by the fact that females increase their fitness with multiple matings.
Mated females may thus further increase their fitness by more stringent
mate selection. We conclude that signalling is a crucial aspect to
consider when studying female mate choice, because signalling may affect
the number of available mates to choose from.