Multiple mating can be costly, but also beneficial for females. When the costs outweigh the benefits, mated females can be reluctant to remate for some time. Conversely, females will be likely to remate when they need to replenish sperm and/or receive nutrients contained in the accessory ejaculate substances. Water striders have been commonly used in mating studies as many show a vigorous struggle between the sexes. Generally, water strider females frequently mate with many males and lay many eggs during mating period. However, little is known about their oviposition and refractory periods after an initial mating event. In this study, we revealed that single‐mated females of the small water strider, Microvelia horvathi, could lay eggs for 40 days, reflecting approximately half of their potential oviposition periods. It suggested that M. horvathi females do not need to mate to replenish sperm for some time once they mate. Our results also showed that no female remated after 1 or 3 days of an initial mating event. The proportion of female remating increased with time after the initial mating, however, remating levels reached 26.7% even after 14 days. In this sense, any significant cost of mating outweighs the benefit, which might be one of the factors lowering their remating levels.

中文翻译：

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一次交配事件后小型水MicroMicrovelia horvathi（Heteroptera：Veliidae）的产卵期和不应期

多次交配可能很昂贵，但对雌性也有利。当成本超过收益时，交配的雌性可能不愿再交配一段时间。相反，当女性需要补充精子和/或接受射精中所含的营养时，它们很可能会交配。跨界研究中普遍使用水str，因为许多人都表现出两性之间的激烈斗争。通常，水str雌性经常在交配期间与许多雄性交配并产下许多卵。然而，关于它们在初始交配事件后的产卵和不应期的信息知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们揭示了小型水ider Microvelia horvathi的雌性交配雌性可以产卵40天，大约占其潜在产卵期的一半。这表明霍乱分枝杆菌雌性一旦交配就不需要交配一段时间以补充精子。我们的结果还表明，在初次交配事件发生1或3天后，没有雌性繁殖。初次交配后雌性交配的比例随时间增加，但是即使在14天后，交配的水平也达到了26.7％。从这个意义上讲，交配的任何重大成本都超过了收益，这可能是降低其交配水平的因素之一。