Role of Body Size In the Competition for Mates By Males ofCentris pallida(Anthophorinae: Hymenoptera)

Previous studies in central Arizona have shown that males of the bee Centris pallida fight for access to emerging receptive females and that larger males have greater mating success. Based on these results, larger-than-average males were predicted to be seen digging for emerging females, particularly if they were observed fighting with other males for control of a digging site. As predicted, larger-than-average males were captured while digging for emerging females. Although large males have consistently experienced an advantage over smaller ones in the competition for mates in a series of studies at this location beginning in the mid-1970s, smaller males continue to be the large majority of the male population.