To harass or to respect: the economy of male persistence despite female refusal in a damselfly with scramble mate competition

In sexual conflict, males are often thought to gain fitness benefits from harassing females over mating. Yet when harassment itself incurs costs and if alternative, receptive available in a local population, theory predicts that confronted with female refusal, male’s choice of persisting or retreating is determined part by the likelihood achieving We tested prediction damselfly Enallagma hageni, whose compete intense scramble competition, resulting widespread mating toward females, which have high level control Using captive individuals E. hageni outdoor insectaries, we quantified male persistence after refusals pre- post-oviposition focal egg content observations. documented novel, context-dependent head-turning refusal signal non-receptivity, most displayed tandem pairs typically carried few mature eggs for fertilize. Male was less likely result compared pre-oviposition carrying clutch eggs. Accordingly, were persist following signals given supporting theoretical prediction. Compared known as wing spread, significantly more effective deterring males. Our results suggest despite on-going conflict mating, cooperation both sexes use honest non-receptivity because they carry could