Mating dynamics of South African forest millipedes : Centrobolus (Diplopoda: Pachybolidae)

This study focuses on the mating dynamics of South African forest millipedes Centrobolus (Diplopoda: Spirobolida: Pachybolidae). The main objectives were to investigate the two most common mechanisms of sexual selection, sperm competition and cryptic female choice. The approach was to (1) quantify sexual dimorphism and find the selection pressures operating on the sexes, (2) determine the functional significance of male and female genitalia, (3) understand why there should be a conflict of sexual interests in prolonged copulations, and (4) resolve the mechanisms of sperm competition and cryptic female choice by comparing male mating strategies and sperm precedence to female mating strategies and sperm usage. All hypotheses tested in this thesis are centered on whether there is a conflict of interests between the sexes.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Biological Sciences

Year dc:date.issued

1998

Author dc:creator

• Cooper, Mark Ian

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Telford, Steven
• Nicolson, Sue W

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17555

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/17555