Sexual selection in the field cricket Teleogryllus commodus
We are exploring a range of question relating to male singing behaviour, female mate choice, sperm competition, immunocompetence and diet.
These field crickets are model organism to ask a wide array of questions about how sexual selection operates. The main goal is usually to link male sexual signals and ejaculate properties to measures of quality (fitness). We then test how male-female interactions affect the fitness of each sex. For example, can females pick males that will elevate offspring fitness? Is there sexual conflict over mating duration? Do males that have high success in attracting females to mate also have high success in gaining paternity when females mate multiply...and so on. So many questions, so much data, so few papers written up....