Data from: Long-sperm precedence and other cryptic female choices in Drosophila melanogaster

Females that mate multiply make postmating choices about which sperm
fertilize their eggs (cryptic female choice); however, the male
characteristics they use to make such choices remain unclear. In this
study, we sought to understand female sperm use patterns by evaluating
whether Drosophila melanogaster females adjust sperm use (second male
paternity) in response to four main factors: male genotype, male courtship
effort, male pheromone alteration, and male postmating reproductive
morphology. Our experiment was replicated across four different D.
melanogaster lines, in a full factorial design, including a pheromone
manipulation in which second males were perfumed to resemble
heterospecific (D. yakuba) males. We found that females prefer longer
sperm—regardless of mating order—in almost all contexts; this observed
pattern of ‘long-sperm precedence’ is consistent with female postmating
choice of high-fitness male traits. Nonetheless, we also found that this
general preference can be plastically altered by females in response to
effects including perfuming treatment; this differential female sperm use
is between otherwise identical males, and therefore solely
female-mediated. Furthermore, our finding that females exercise choice
using diverse criteria suggests a possible mechanism for the maintenance
of variation in sexually selected male traits.