Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39462064›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2024

Female Phalangium opilio use fellatio to compensate sexual avoidance.

Pavol Prokop, Juraj Litavský, Zuzana Provazník

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Pavol ProkopDepartment of Environmental Ecology and Landscape Management, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Ilkovičova 6, Bratislava, 842 15, Slovakia. pavol.prokop@savba.sk.
Juraj LitavskýDepartment of Environmental Ecology and Landscape Management, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Ilkovičova 6, Bratislava, 842 15, Slovakia.
Zuzana ProvazníkDepartment of Environmental Ecology and Landscape Management, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Ilkovičova 6, Bratislava, 842 15, Slovakia.

Funding

APVV 20-0081
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Sexual conflict arises from differences in reproductive interests between the sexes. We allowed the female harvestman Phalangium opilio to sequentially mate with two different males to examine female sexual receptivity in this species. Virgin females were more sexually receptive than non-virgins. Males exhibited a high interest in repeated copulations with the same female, often engaging in aggressive behaviours such as biting and reversed sexual cannibalism. Fellatio, a behaviour in which females lick the male's penis, was observed in 44% of trials and was associated with female unwillingness to mate and shorter copulation duration. Fellatio was repeatable, suggesting that it is influenced by individual characteristics or underlying physiological factors. Female lifespan was negatively correlated with the total number of eggs produced, suggesting a trade-off between reproduction and longevity. These findings provide evidence of the appearance of fellatio, a female mating strategy that evolved as compensation of avoiding unwanted sexual intercourse.

Indexed as

Sexual Behavior, AnimalAnimalsCopulationFemaleMaleReproductionFemale lifespanHarvestmanMating behaviourOral sexReversed sexual cannibalismSexual conflict

Identifiers

PMID39462064
PMCPMC11513115

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.