B3.2 - Courtship, Reproductive behaviours and Parental care

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  • Created by: Chris
  • Created on: 15-05-10 18:12

Reproductive behaviour is used to find and choose a suitable mate for sexual reproduction. Some specie mate for life, others have many different mates. Generally, male investment in the next generation is very small, so reproduction with lots of females often occurs, so selecting the best mate is not important. However, female investment in the next generation is very large; therefore mate selection is essential as reproduction with many males is not possible.

Courtship behaviour is essential as it is used to attract the right species and the right sex, so to avoid confusion each species needs to do something unique.

There are many ways to attract mates; pheromones, sound, courtship dances, attractive body features, big territories that attract the opposite sex.

Pheromones for example can be released by the female moths to attract the males. The smell spreads over miles on the wind. The male moth flies up the concentration gradient to find…

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