Sperm precedence, also known as sperm predominance, is tendency of a female who has been bred by multiple males to give birth to their offspring in unequal proportions. Sperm precedence is an important factor in the sperm competition.

False color image of sperm

Sperm precedence can be temporal, favoring either the first or last male to breed the female (the former is known as first sperm precedence and the latter is known as last sperm precedence),[1] or it can favor the male whose sperm are the most motile, or the male whose sperm were delivered closest to the female's ova. First male sperm precedence is seen in a variety of species, including the common crab spider, Misumena vatia.[2][3]

References edit

  1. ^ Laturney, Meghan (June 2018). "Last male sperm precedence is modulated by female remating rate in Drosophila melanogaster". Evolution Letters. 2 (3): 180–189. doi:10.1002/evl3.50. PMC 6121866. PMID 30283675.
  2. ^ Morse, Douglass H. (2010). "Male mate choice and female response in relation to mating status and time since mating". Behavioral Ecology. 21 (2): 250–256. doi:10.1093/beheco/arp183.
  3. ^ Matzke, Magdalena (April 2022). "Sperm competition intensity affects sperm precedence patterns in a polyandrous gift-giving spider" (PDF). Molecular Ecology. 31 (8): 2435–2452. doi:10.1111/mec.16405. PMID 35178803 – via NCBI.