1979] 
Alcock — Harpobittacus australis 
217 
in copulo for from 1-17 min. Certainly females discriminate among 
males on the basis of edible volume of the nuptial gift, refusing to 
couple at all with males offering very small presents or prey that 
have been drained by previous mates. This mecopteran, therefore, 
probably provides another example of a species whose females exer¬ 
cise mate choice, accepting sperm preferentially from individuals 
that make a large parental investment in the form of a food gift that 
may promote egg development or female survival. 
Acknowledgements 
This study was conducted while the author was a visiting lecturer 
at Monash University. I thank the members of the Zoology Depart¬ 
ment at Monash for their help, my sons Joey and Nicky for their 
assistance with field work, and Randy Thornhill for reading the 
manuscript. 
References 
Bornemissza, G. F. 
1966. Observations on the hunting and mating behaviour of two species of 
scorpion flies (Bittacidae: Mecoptera). Aust. J. Zool. 14: 371-382. 
Thornhill, R. 
1976. Sexual selection and nuptial feeding behavior in Bittaeus apicalis 
(Insecta: Mecoptera). Amer. Nat. 110: 529-548. 
1977. The comparative predatory and sexual behavior of hanging flies (Mecop¬ 
tera: Bittacidae). Occ. Papers Mus. Zool., Univ. Mich. 677: 1-43. 
1979. Adaptive female-mimicking behavior in a scorpionfly. Science 205: 
412-414. 
* 
