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Researcher Scott Sakaluk has found a possible tie-in between nuptial gifts in insects and the "sensory exploitation" type of chase-away sexual selection. He gave the nuptial gifts created by one cricket species to the females of three other species -- these other species had no history of nuptial gift-giving. Sakaluk found that females offered the nuptial gifts accepted more sperm than females not offered a gift, and he believes that nuptial gift-giving is a "sensory trap" that exploits hungry females.

Reference:

S. K. Sakaluk. 2000. Sensory exploitation as an evolutionary origin to nuptial food gifts in insects. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences 267 (1441): 339-343 FEB 22 2000.

Links:

Abstract of the article.

Scott Sakaluk's home page.