Data from: Modeling strategic sperm allocation: tailoring the predictions to the species

Two major challenges exist when empirically testing the predictions of sperm allocation theory. First, the study species must adhere to the assumptions of the model being tested. Unfortunately, the common assumption of sperm allocation models that females mate a maximum of once or twice does not hold for many, if not most, multiply and sequentially mating animals. Second, a model’s parameters, which dictate its predictions, must be measured in the study species. Common examples of such parameters, female mating frequency and sperm precedence patterns, are unknown for many species used in empirical tests. Here, we present a broadly applicable model, appropriate for multiply, sequentially mating animals, and test it in three species for which data on all the relevant parameter values are available. The model predicts that relative allocation to virgin females, compared to non-virgins, depends on the interaction between female mating rate and the sperm precedence pattern: relative allocation to virgins increases with female mating rate under first-male precedence, while the opposite is true under later-male precedence. Our model is moderately successful in predicting actual allocation patterns in the three species, including a cricket in which we measured the parameter values and performed an empirical test of allocation.

针对精子分配理论（sperm allocation theory）的预测开展实证检验时，存在两大核心挑战。其一，研究物种需契合所检验模型的前提假设。遗憾的是，精子分配模型普遍假定雌性最多仅交配1次或2次，但这一前提并不适用于多数（即便并非全部）多次且连续交配的动物类群。其二，决定模型预测结果的参数必须在研究物种中实测获取。此类参数的典型示例包括雌性交配频率与精子竞争优先权模式（sperm precedence patterns），但多数用于实证检验的物种的相关数据仍未明确。本研究提出一款适用于多次连续交配动物的普适性模型，并在3种已获取全部相关参数值数据的物种中对该模型进行了检验。模型预测：相较于非处女雌体，对处女雌体的相对分配量取决于雌性交配速率与精子竞争优先权模式之间的交互作用：在首雄优先权（first-male precedence）模式下，对处女雌体的相对分配量随雌性交配速率提升而增加；而在后雄优先权（later-male precedence）模式下则呈现相反趋势。本模型在预测3个物种的实际分配模式时表现中等，其中包括我们实测参数并开展分配实证检验的一种蟋蟀类物种。