Mating Walnut Flies: Overview of the mating game The upcoming animated scenarios show four possible combinations of sex ratio (male-biased or female-biased) and copulation duration (long or short). In each scenario, the reproductive success of one "focal" male is tracked as he mates with several females. The scenario tracks how much time has elapsed, how many females the focal male has mated with, and how many eggs he has fertilized. (Note: certain parameters have been changed to facilitate the simulation; for example, the flies mate for a few seconds, whereas in real life they mate for several minutes.) Each scenario lasts 21 frames. At the end of each scenario, write down the summary numbers shown to the right of the arena on the last frame; you will be asked about them later. Below is a suggestion on how to tally the data (or download a pdf version of the tally sheet). Visually-impaired users can skip this table if they wish, because the text-only content has all the requisite information.
|
Previous | |||||
Mating Walnut Flies: Start | Contents Principles of Animal Behavior: Home | Modules | Contents | Links | Behavior News Problems using this page? Email the webmaster |