Body size, nuptial gift characteristics and courtship behaviour, among other traits, can reflect the quality of a potential mate and, thus, might be under sexual selection. To maximize their mating success, individuals can show behavioural plasticity in sexual context. Allocosa senex is a burrow-digging wolf spider that exhibits reversal in courtship roles and in sexual size-dimorphism expected for spiders. Males construct the mating refuge and females prefer males that build longer burrows, which are considered as nuptial gifts because they are delivered to them after mating. This study aims to determine whether male body size and female reproductive status influence burrow dimensions, courtship displays, female preferences and cannibalism rate in A. senex. For that purpose, we allowed males to construct burrows and performed sexual trials under laboratory conditions. Larger males were more courted by females, and in turn, they expressed more vibratory behaviours during courtship. However, and contrary to our expectations, smaller males constructed longer burrows. We suggest that males of A. senex exhibit size-dependent behavioural plasticity, and when they are smaller, they invest more in burrow construction to compensate their lower opportunities of courting intensively as larger males. In addition, females courted differentially according to their reproductive status, overriding male preferences for virgin females. This study opens several doors to future research regarding mutual choice in A. senex and the traits assessed by males and females during courtship, as well as about the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors shaping reproductive decision-making in this and other wandering spider species.

体型、结婚礼物特征和求爱行为以及其他特征可以反映潜在配偶的质量，因此可能处于性选择之下。为了最大限度地提高交配成功率，个体可以在性环境中表现出行为可塑性。Allocosa senex是一种挖洞狼蛛，在求偶角色和蜘蛛预期的性别大小二态性方面表现出逆转。雄性建造交配避难所，雌性更喜欢建造更长洞穴的雄性，这些洞穴被视为结婚礼物，因为它们是在交配后交付给它们的。本研究旨在确定雄性体型和雌性生殖状态是否影响A. senex 的洞穴尺寸、求偶表现、雌性偏好和同类相食率. 为此，我们允许雄性在实验室条件下建造洞穴并进行性试验。较大的雄性更容易受到雌性的追捧，反过来，它们在求爱期间表现出更多的振动行为。然而，与我们的预期相反，较小的雄性建造了更长的洞穴。我们建议A. senex 的雄性表现出与体型相关的行为可塑性，当它们较小时，它们会在洞穴建设上投资更多，以补偿它们作为较大雄性密集求爱的机会较低。此外，女性根据她们的生殖状态不同地求爱，压倒了男性对处女女性的偏好。这项研究为未来关于A. senex相互选择的研究打开了几扇门 以及雄性和雌性在求偶期间评估的特征，以及影响这种和其他流浪蜘蛛物种繁殖决策的内在和外在因素的影响。