Data from: Leader preference in Neoconocephalus ensiger katydids: a female preference for a non-heritable male trait

Leader preferences, which result in greater mating success of males that produce their signals just ahead of those of their neighbors, are common in acoustically communicating insects and anurans (e.g. Whitney and Krebs 1975, Greenfield and Roizen 1993, Grafe 1996, Römer et al. 1997, Greenfield et al. 2004). These preferences are unusual in that they do not act on a property of the male signal itself but rather on its timing relative to that of other males (Snedden and Greenfield 1998), making the relationship between female preferences and male signal traits particularly complex. Leader preferences have been studied from several perspectives: their strength, their effect on male interactions, and their evolutionary origins (e.g. Greenfield and Roizen 1993, Grafe 1999, Römer et al. 2002, Hartbauer et al. 2006, Richardson et al. 2008, Hartbauer 2014, Party et al. 2014, Party et al. 2015).相较于周边同类，信号发射时机早于邻居的雄性可获得更高的交配成功率，这类领先偏好（Leader preferences）在依靠声学信号交流的昆虫与无尾两栖类中十分普遍（例如：Whitney与Krebs 1975、Greenfield与Roizen 1993、Grafe 1996、Römer等人1997、Greenfield等人2004）。这类偏好的特殊性在于，其选择依据并非雄性信号本身的属性，而是该信号相较于其他雄性信号的发射时序（Snedden与Greenfield 1998），这使得雌性偏好与雄性信号性状之间的关联尤为复杂。目前学界已从多个维度对领先偏好展开研究：包括其作用强度、对雄性互动的影响，以及其进化起源（例如：Greenfield与Roizen 1993、Grafe 1999、Römer等人2002、Hartbauer等人2006、Richardson等人2008、Hartbauer 2014、Party等人2014、Party等人2015）。