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).

领先偏好（Leader preferences）指雌性更青睐信号发出时间早于同类邻居的雄性，此类现象在进行声学通讯的昆虫与无尾两栖动物（anurans）中十分常见（例如Whitney与Krebs，1975；Greenfield与Roizen，1993；Grafe，1996；Römer等，1997；Greenfield等，2004）。此类偏好的特殊之处在于，其选择基准并非雄性信号本身的某一属性，而是该信号相对于其他雄性信号的时序关系（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。目前已有多个研究视角对领先偏好展开探讨：包括其作用强度、对雄性个体间互动的影响，以及其进化起源（例如Greenfield与Roizen，1993；Grafe，1999；Römer等，2002；Hartbauer等，2006；Richardson等，2008；Hartbauer，2014；Party等，2014；Party等，2015）。