NewScientist: Even cheap love tokens can buy sex
“When male flies gave their prospective partners a useless cotton bauble rather than a juicy meal, they still improved their mating chances

It is an age-old story in the animal kingdom: males give gifts to females to seduce them. But why do some individuals hand over valuable presents while others get away with common tat? For instance, males of some fly species either present females with hard-won edible insects, or inedible seeds or twigs. Some even do both.”
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