Mating behaviour arises from interactions between males and females. The precopulatory stage includes various male and female mating behaviours that are potentially influenced (independently or jointly) by each sex, thereby shaping the dynamics of this stage. However, limited attention has been given to determining the relative contributions of males and females to the expression of precopulatory behaviours. Here, we adopted a variance-partitioning approach to assess which sex controls each precopulatory behaviour. This approach also enabled us to evaluate the existence of mate choice by assessing whether the expression of precopulatory behaviour depends on the identity of the opposite sex partner. In our study, using the bean bug Riptortus pedestris, we exposed individual males and females to different opposite-sex partners (i.e., mating assays) up to six times. During the mating assay, we measured multiple precopulatory behaviours (e.g., latency to mount, courtship rate, courtship duration, and duration of position change). Variance partitioning showed that the variation in each precopulatory behaviour could be attributed solely to either sex but not to both sexes. Hence, the precopulatory stage of R. pedestris comprises a combination of male-controlled and female-controlled behaviours. We also suggested that mate choice was absent in both sexes of R. pedestris in the postmounting and precopulatory stages. Our findings highlight the importance of the variance-partitioning approach in the study of mating behaviour, as it facilitates the investigation of whether mate choice occurs at specific mating stages and enhances our understanding of evolutionary dynamics during mating.

中文翻译：

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用于评估配偶选择和性别控制交配行为的方差划分方法

交配行为源于雄性和雌性之间的相互作用。交配前阶段包括各种男性和女性交配行为，这些行为可能受到每种性别的影响（独立或共同），从而塑造了该阶段的动态。然而，对于确定男性和女性对交配前行为表达的相对贡献的关注有限。在这里，我们采用方差划分方法来评估哪种性别控制每种交配前行为。这种方法还使我们能够通过评估交配前行为的表达是否取决于异性伴侣的身份来评估择偶的存在。在我们的研究中，我们使用豆角虫 Riptortus pedestris，将雄性和雌性个体暴露于不同的异性伴侣（即交配测定）多达六次。在交配测定过程中，我们测量了多种交配前行为（例如，坐骑潜伏期、求偶率、求偶持续时间和位置变化的持续时间）。方差划分表明，每种交配前行为的变异只能归因于任一性别，但不能归因于两性。因此，R. pedestris 的交配前阶段包括雄性控制和雌性控制的行为的组合。我们还认为，在安装后和交配前阶段，两性的R. pedestris 都不存在配偶选择。我们的研究结果强调了方差划分方法在交配行为研究中的重要性，因为它有助于调查交配选择是否发生在特定的交配阶段，并增强我们对交配过程中进化动力学的理解。