Abstract

Sexual selection has resulted in some of the most captivating features of animals, including flashy colors, bizarre structures, and complex pheromones. These features evolve in complex environments, where conditions change over space and time. However, only recently has ecological complexity been embraced by theory and practice in sexual selection. I will discuss findings revealing that seasonal changes in plants lead to changes in mate choice and male-male competition in the leaf-footed bugs (Family: Coreidae). I will next describe allocation tradeoffs between weapons, testes, and other traits in these species. Finally, I will use similar perspectives and approaches to examine phenotypic plasticity in mouthparts, naturally-selected traits also closely tied to fitness. I will discuss how seasonally-changing resources may lead to greater feeding plasticity in insects, predisposing some to become invasive.