Female Reproductive Control

The duck female tract demonstrates that fertilization is partly subject to female anatomical control through counter-adaptations. Female reproductive control is rooted in the higher energetic cost of eggs compared to sperm, giving females reasons to be selective about mates. Female control over fertilization can occur before mating through behavior, during mating through anatomy, or after mating through sperm storage, diversion, or selective fertilization. In springtails, there is conflict between the male's goal of sperm transfer and the female's opportunity to eat the spermatophore as nutrition. Male genital elaborations that bypass female anatomical barriers can be damaging in species where mating involves coercion.