Monogyny

Definition

A mating system in which males are limited to a single female partner in their lifetime, while females may mate with multiple males. In this asymmetric system, males typically provide no parental care and often evolve extreme reproductive strategies, including self-sacrifice or genital damage, to maximize paternity success in their single mating opportunity.

Etymology

From Greek mono- (one) + gyne (woman/female)

Example

In the redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti), males perform a somersault during copulation that positions their abdomen over the female's fangs, facilitating sexual cannibalism and thereby prolonging copulation to increase sperm transfer—an extreme monogynous adaptation.

Related Terms

• Polygyny
• Polyandry
• sexual cannibalism
• paternal investment
• mating system
• reproductive strategy
• genital damage
• self-sacrifice

Usage Notes

Contrasts with polygyny (one male, multiple females) and polyandry (one female, multiple males). The term specifically emphasizes the male-limited aspect; female mating frequency is not constrained. Common in spiders with two pedipalps (limiting males to two copulations maximum) and in eusocial Hymenoptera where males die after mating. Not to be confused with monogamy, which implies mutual one-to-one pairing.