Theory predicts that because costs constrain female sexual signaling, females are expected to have a low signaling effort that is increased with passing time until mating is secured. This pattern of signaling is expected to result from females balancing the costs associated with a higher than optimal signaling effort and those costs associated with a low signaling effort that increase the likelihood of delayed mating. We tested whether this prediction applies in the common glow-worm Lampyris noctiluca (Coleoptera, Lampyridae), a capital breeding species in which females glow at night to attract males. Contrary to predictions, we found that the duration of female sexual signaling significantly decreased with time. Moreover, when females experienced multiple light/dark cycles within 24 h, both signaling duration and intensity significantly decreased. These results imply that females attempt to signal as much as possible at first, with the decrease in signaling duration and intensity likely being due to female resource depletion. Because in capital breeding females the costs of a delayed mating are likely greater than the costs of sexual signaling, females should mate as soon as possible and thus always invest into signaling as much as possible.

理论预测，由于成本限制了女性的性信号传递，因此预期女性的信号传递努力程度会降低，并随着传递时间的延长而增加，直到确保交配为止。预期这种发信号模式是由于雌性平衡了与高于最佳发信号作用相关的成本和与低发信号作用相关的那些成本，这些成本增加了延迟交配的可能性。我们测试了这种预测是否适用于常见的萤火虫夜蛾Lampyris noctiluca（鞘翅目，吊兰科），一种主要繁殖物种，雌性在夜间发光以吸引雄性。与预测相反，我们发现女性性信号的持续时间随时间显着减少。此外，当雌性在24小时内经历了多个明/暗循环时，信号传递的持续时间和强度均显着降低。这些结果表明，女性起初会尝试发出尽可能多的信号，而信号传递持续时间和强度的下降可能是由于女性资源枯竭所致。因为在雌性繁殖中，延迟交配的成本可能比性信号传递的成本高，所以女性应尽快交配，因此总是尽可能多地投资于信号传递。