Mating with the wrong species is surprisingly common in nature. Interspecific mating can lead to reproductive interference, where wasted time, energy, nutrients, or gametes reduces the fitness of one or both of the interacting species. However, the ecological and evolutionary forces that maintain this seemingly maladaptive behavior remain poorly understood, in part because the natural complexity of heterospecific encounters is often not considered experimentally. The goal of this study was to directly test if the negative effects of heterospecific mating can be mitigated by conspecific mating. We used two closely related species of squash bug, Anasa tristis and Anasa andresii, which are known to readily mate with each other despite clear negative fitness consequences. We gave all females opportunities to mate with conspecific males before and after encountering heterospecific males. We found that A. tristis females can alleviate temporary bouts of heterospecific interference when given opportunities to mate with conspecifics. However, we found the opposite for A. andresii females. Mating with conspecifics did not shelter female A. andresii from the consequences of heterospecific mating. Our study reveals the complex dynamics of reproductive interference and highlights scenarios where mating with the wrong species can have either minimal or long-lasting effects on fitness. We emphasize the benefit of assessing reproductive interference using experiments that not only vary heterospecific encounter rates, but that also quantify lifetime measures of fitness. Our study adds to the growing body of research highlighting the importance of reproductive interference and sheds light on why this seemingly paradoxical behavior continues to persist.

与错误的物种交配在自然界中是令人惊讶的普遍现象。种间交配会导致生殖干扰，其中浪费的时间，精力，营养或配子会降低一种或两种相互作用物种的适应性。但是，维持这种看似适应不良行为的生态和进化力仍然知之甚少，部分原因是通常不通过实验考虑异种相遇的自然复杂性。这项研究的目的是直接测试异种交配的负面影响是否可以通过同种交配来减轻。我们使用了两种紧密相关的南瓜虫，即Anasa tristis和Anasa andresii，尽管有明显的负面健身后果，但它们很容易彼此交配。在遇到异种雄性之前和之后，我们为所有雌性提供了与同种雄性交配的机会。我们发现，如果给与雌性配偶的机会，A。tristis雌性可以减轻异种干扰的暂时发作。但是，我们发现A. andresii雌性却相反。与特定物种的交配不能庇护雌性A. andresii异种交配的后果。我们的研究揭示了生殖干扰的复杂动态，并强调了与错误物种交配对健身的影响微乎其微或持久的情况。我们强调使用实验来评估生殖干扰的好处，该实验不仅会改变异种特异性的发生率，而且还可以量化适合性的终生测量。我们的研究增加了越来越多的研究，突出了生殖干扰的重要性，并阐明了这种看似矛盾的行为为何继续存在的原因。