Multiple Mating and Sperm Usage Patterns in Natural Populations of Prolinyphia marginata (Araneae: Linyphiidae)

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Abstract
Ten field-captured mating pairs of Prolinyphia marginata (Koch) [ = Linyphia marginata Koch and Neriene radiata (Walckenaer)] were allowed to finish copulation in the laboratory, as indicated by the production of a sperm web by the male and a qualitative analysis of male behavior. Electrophoretic analysis of the male, female, and offspring by using the variable phosphoglucomutase (Pgm) locus indicated that, in half of the cases, females must have previously mated with another male. The detectable frequency of eggs that must have been fertilized by sperm produced by a male other than the one captured was 0.19. Further analysis of the genotype ratios of the offspring indicates that both of these frequencies are probably substantially higher. These results suggest that multiple mating of females and early male precedence are common phenomena in natural populations of P. marginata.

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