Delayed or instant copulation? - Effect of female copying on male mating decisions

Markku Milonoff

Milonoff, M. 1995: Delayed or instant copulation? - Effect of female copying on male mating decisions. - Wildl. Biol. 1: 57-61.

Observations of capercaillie, Tetrao urogallus, males that do not mate with soliciting females are rather common. Here I present circumstantial evidence that the delaying of copulation is voluntary and propose a hypothesis to explain it. Males of lekking species may delay copulation voluntarily if females copy the mate choice of others, i.e. females around a male may attract females arriving later at the lek. The benefits of delayed copulation depend on the tendency of females to copy each other and the males' risk of losing copulations. Widely scattered display territories in dense forests and longevity are factors that may promote the delaying behaviour of capercaillie and other species with similar characteristics.

Markku Milonoff, Evo Game Research Station, Kaitalammintie 75, FIN-16970 Evo, Finland

Received 22 April 1994, accepted 15 October 1994

Associate Editor: Jon E. Swenson