Anastrepha striata (Diptera: Tephritidae) females that mate with virgin males live longer

The consequences for females copulating with males suffering from sperm and accessory gland product depletion have rarely been investigated, especially in the context of male food shortage. In Anastrepha striata (Schiner), mating success is highly skewed, with some males copulating many times and others not at all. Because males transmit substances to females through labelum-to-labelum contact before copulation, mating could be especially costly to males fed a low-quality diet, and females that copulate with these males could suffer a fitness cost. To test this, we evaluated the reproduction and longevity of females that mated with males fed a high- or low-quality diet according to mating order (i.e., whether the female was the first or subsequent mate of a particular male). Contrary to predictions of sperm depletion, female fecundity and fertility did not vary according to mating order and were not influenced by male adult diet. However, longevity was significantly greater for females that were the first to copulate with a virgin male compared with females that subsequently mated with the same male (nonvirgin). Copula duration did not vary with mating order but was longer in the case of males fed a low-quality diet. We discuss the role that trophallaxis or accessory gland products may have in modulating female longevity.