Nuptial gifts
Abstract
What are nuptial gifts? They are what it says on the label: the gifts that male animals transfer to females during courtship and mating, beyond the obligatory gametes. Chemically, nuptial gifts can contain proteins, uric acid, lipids, carbohydrates, allohormones, minerals, and anti-predator defensive chemicals. They come in diverse packages, such as food collected by males, salivary gland secretions, spermatophores (sperm-containing packages produced by male reproductive glands), and free ejaculates. One fundamental distinction can be drawn between endogenous gifts that are produced by the male himself and exogenous gifts males collect. In addition, oral gifts that are taken in through the female's digestive system are distinguished from seminal gifts that are deposited in the female's reproductive tract during mating.
- Publication:
-
Current Biology
- Pub Date:
- 2011
- DOI:
- 10.1016/j.cub.2011.05.046
- Bibcode:
- 2011CBio...21.R644L