Washington, August 22: A new study has shown that female fruit flies prefer keeping sex short and sweet because they get a reproductive boost from shorter intercourse.
Since males like sex to last longer, a fight ensues.
"After about a minute and a half (of mating), the female begins kicking and struggling," National Geographic News quoted Kirsten Klappert, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, as having written in the study report.
The researcher notes that when mating lasts longer, female flies have less time to mate again with a different male, if they do so at all.
Although that is good for males flies, as it means that their sperm have less competition, it can be disastrous for females.
"Many male Drosophila montana are infertile, so if you only mate with one you have a high risk of no offspring at all," Klappert said.
During the study, Klappert’s team paired live males with dead females to see how much control female flies have over mating length.
Source: Zopag
Since males like sex to last longer, a fight ensues.
"After about a minute and a half (of mating), the female begins kicking and struggling," National Geographic News quoted Kirsten Klappert, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, as having written in the study report.
The researcher notes that when mating lasts longer, female flies have less time to mate again with a different male, if they do so at all.
Although that is good for males flies, as it means that their sperm have less competition, it can be disastrous for females.
"Many male Drosophila montana are infertile, so if you only mate with one you have a high risk of no offspring at all," Klappert said.
During the study, Klappert’s team paired live males with dead females to see how much control female flies have over mating length.
Source: Zopag