Ladies First: Coerced Mating in a Fiddler Crab

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 11; no. 6; p. e0155707
• Main Authors: Painting, Christina J, Splinter, William, Callander, Sophia, Maricic, Tim, Peso, Marianne, Backwell, Patricia R Y
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.06.2016; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Abdomen; Animal behavior; Animal reproduction; Animals; Biology; Biology and Life Sciences; Body Size - physiology; Brachyura - physiology; Breeding success; Confined spaces; Copulation; Crabs; Crustaceans; Decapoda; Ecology; Eggs; Female; Females; Inspection; Male; Males; Mating; Mating Preference, Animal - physiology; Medicine and Health Sciences; Ocypodidae; Physiology; Reproduction; Reproduction - physiology; Sexual Behavior, Animal - physiology; Spatial Behavior - physiology; Success; Trapping; Uca; Australia; Canberra Australian Capital Territory Australia

In some species males increase their reproductive success by forcing females to copulate with them, usually by grasping the female or pinning her to the ground to prevent her from escaping. Here we report an example of males coercing copulation by trapping a female in a confined space. During mate-s...