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Sexual selection
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=== In arthropods === {{Main|Sexual selection in spiders|Sexual selection in insects}} Sexual selection occurs in a wide range of [[spider]] species, both before and after copulation.<ref name="Eberhard 2009">{{cite journal |last=Eberhard |first=William G. |title=Postcopulatory sexual selection: Darwin's omission and its consequences |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=106 |issue=supplement 1 |date=16 June 2009 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0901217106 |pages=10025β10032|pmid=19528642 |pmc=2702800 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Post-copulatory sexual selection involves sperm competition and cryptic female choice. Sperm competition occurs where the sperm of more than one male competes to fertilise the egg of the female. Cryptic female choice involves the expelling of a male's sperm during or after copulations.<ref name="Peretti Eberhard 2010">{{cite journal |last1=Peretti |first1=A. V. |last2=Eberhard |first2=W. G. |title=Cryptic female choice via sperm dumping favours male copulatory courtship in a spider |journal=Journal of Evolutionary Biology |volume=23 |issue=2 |year=2010 |doi=10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01900.x |pages=271β281|pmid=20487130 |s2cid=9110472 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Many forms of sexual selection exist among the insects. Parental care is often provided by female insects, as in bees, but male parental care is found in [[Belostomatidae|belostomatid]] water bugs, where the male, after fertilizing the eggs, allows the female to glue her eggs onto his back. He broods them until the [[Nymph (biology)|nymph]]s hatch 2β4 weeks later. The eggs are large and reduce the ability of the male to fertilise other females and catch prey, and increases its predation risk.<ref name="Gilbert Manica 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Gilbert |first1=James D. J. |last2=Manica |first2=Andrea |title=The evolution of parental care in insects: A test of current hypotheses |journal=Evolution |volume=69 |issue=5 |date=30 April 2015 |doi=10.1111/evo.12656 |pages=1255β1270|pmid=25825047 |pmc=4529740 |s2cid=17791711 }}</ref> Among the [[Firefly|fireflies]] (Lampyrid beetles), males fly in darkness and emit a species-specific pattern of light flashes, which are answered by perching receptive females. The colour and temporal variation of the flashes contribute to success in attracting females.<ref name="Lewis Cratsley 2008">{{cite journal |last1=Lewis |first1=Sara M. |last2=Cratsley |first2=Christopher K. |s2cid=16360536 |date=January 2008 |title=Flash Signal Evolution, Mate Choice, and Predation in Fireflies |journal=[[Annual Review of Entomology]] |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=293β321 |doi=10.1146/annurev.ento.53.103106.093346 |pmid=17877452}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Branham |first1=Marc A. |last2=Wenzel |first2=John W. |date=December 2001 |title=The Evolution of Bioluminescence in Cantharoids (Coleoptera: Elateroidea) |journal=[[The Florida Entomologist]] |volume=84 |issue=4 |pages=565 |doi=10.2307/3496389 |jstor=3496389 |url=http://journals.fcla.edu/flaent/article/view/75005 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=Gavin J. |last2=Branham |first2=Marc A. |last3=Whiting |first3=Michael F. |last4=Bybee |first4=Seth M. |date=February 2017 |title=Total evidence phylogeny and the evolution of adult bioluminescence in fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) |journal=[[Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution]] |volume=107 |pages=564β575 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2016.12.017 |pmid=27998815 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2017MolPE.107..564M }}</ref> Among the [[beetle]]s, sexual selection is common. In the [[mealworm]] beetle, ''Tenebrio molitor,'' males release pheromones to attract females to mate.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=PΓΆlkki |first1=Mari |last2=Krams |first2=Indrikis |last3=Kangassalo |first3=Katariina |last4=Rantala |first4=Markus J. |date=2012-06-23 |title=Inbreeding affects sexual signalling in males but not females of Tenebrio molitor |journal=Biology Letters |language=en |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=423β425 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2011.1135 |issn=1744-9561 |pmc=3367757 |pmid=22237501}}</ref> Females choose mates based on whether they are infected, and on their mass.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Worden |first1=Bradley D. |last2=Parker |first2=Patricia G. |date=2005-11-05 |title=Females prefer noninfected males as mates in the grain beetle Tenebrio molitor: evidence in pre- and postcopulatory behaviours |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347205002393 |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=70 |issue=5 |pages=1047β1053 |doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.01.023}}</ref> <!--This is NOT A LIST, we don't want an example farm here --- obviously there are thousands -->
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