Abstract
Empis borealisfemales form swarms, and males carrying a nuptial gift come to swarms to mate. Males either mated with one of the females (accepted swarms) or left swarms without mating (refused swarms). Males mated with the younger (low wing-wear) and relatively larger females in accepted swarms. They seemed to be able to judge the relative size of the females but to ignore their absolute size. Visiting males stayed shorter in accepted swarms as female size variation increased. This probably reflects their greater ease in choosing a mate among females of relatively different sizes. Females in accepted swarms tended to be larger and to have less worn wings than females in rejected swarms.
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Svensson, B.G., Petersson, E. & Forsgren, E. Why do males of the dance flyEmpis borealis refuse to mate? The importance of female age and size. J Insect Behav 2, 387–395 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01068063
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01068063