Across animal taxa, females of non-territorial species have potential opportunities to mate with multiple partners; hence, the primary mechanism available for males to ensure paternity is to guard the receptive female after copulation and repel other males. Hypothetically, mate-guarding is costly for males in terms of energy acquisition and increased risk of injury, and beneficial for females in terms of decreased harassment by other males and an increase in available foraging time. Here, we provide a detailed description of mating behavior and test these hypotheses in the Spix’s Whiptail (Ameivula ocellifera). Mating behavior is characterized by the following events: (1) a male courts a female in the entrance of her burrow; (2) if courtship is accepted by the female, a consensual copulation occurs; (3) after copulation the male accompanies the female during her daily activity, being aggressive towards other males; (4) when the female returns to the burrow, the companion male remains vigilant at the entrance and repels rival males. Besides the mate-guarding strategy, alternative mating tactics are adopted by some males that do not guard females after courtship and consensual copulation, while others try to copulate opportunistically with a female without prior courtship. Companion males spent more time vigilant, less time actively foraging, and captured less prey when compared to solitary males. Accompanied females captured prey in a similar proportion to solitary females but spent more time vigilant and less time foraging. Companion males won 100% of their interactions with rival males, chasing them away from the females. Accompanied females hence did not suffer harassment from other males when companion males were close. Our results evidence energetic costs of mate-guarding for males but not increased risk of injuries. By accepting mate-guarding, females do not appear to have energetic gains and lose the advantage of cryptic mate choice but can benefit from access to high-quality males and protection from harassment.

在动物分类群中，非领土物种的雌性有可能与多个伴侣交配。因此，男性用于确保亲子关系的主要机制是在交配后保护接受雌性并排斥其他雄性。假设而言，保护伴侣对雄性而言在能量获取和增加受伤风险方面是昂贵的，并且对于减少其他雄性的骚扰和增加可用觅食时间对雌性有利。在这里，我们提供了交配行为的详细描述，并在Spix's Whiptail（Ameivula ocellifera）中测试了这些假设。）。交配行为的特征在于以下事件：（1）男性在洞穴入口处向女性求婚；（2）如果女性接受求偶，则发生双方同意的交配；（3）交配后，雄性在其日常活动中陪伴雌性，对其他雄性具有攻击性；（4）当雌性返回洞穴时，同伴雄性在入口处保持警惕并击退敌对雄性。除了保护伴侣的策略外，一些雄性采取了另类的交配策略，这些雄性在求爱和自愿交配后不保护雌性，而另一些雄性则尝试在没有事先求爱的情况下与雌性进行交配。与单身男性相比，同伴男性花费更多的时间保持警惕，更少的时间进行主动觅食，捕获的猎物也更少。陪伴的雌性捕获的猎物与单亲雌性的捕获率相似，但警惕时间更长，觅食时间更少。伴侣男性赢得了与敌对雄性的100％互动，将他们从雌性中赶走。因此，在陪同的男性接近时，陪伴的女性不会受到其他男性的骚扰。我们的研究结果表明，为男性配偶需要付出高昂的代价，但不会增加受伤的风险。通过接受伴侣保护，雌性似乎并没有精力充沛，失去了选择隐秘伴侣的优势，但可以从接触高品质雄性和免受骚扰中受益。因此，在陪同的男性接近时，陪伴的女性不会受到其他男性的骚扰。我们的研究结果表明，为男性配偶需要付出高昂的代价，但不会增加受伤的风险。通过接受伴侣保护，雌性似乎并没有精力充沛，失去了选择隐秘伴侣的优势，但可以从接触高品质雄性和免受骚扰中受益。因此，在陪同的男性接近时，陪伴的女性不会受到其他男性的骚扰。我们的研究结果表明，为男性配偶需要付出高昂的代价，但不会增加受伤的风险。通过接受伴侣保护，雌性似乎并没有精力充沛，失去了选择隐秘伴侣的优势，但可以从接触高品质雄性和免受骚扰中受益。