Interesting thought, Stephen. The following article refers to the strategy as "sneak and rape," but doesn't give a term for the "sneakers" except that they are "low status males": http://zinjanthropus.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/what-to-beetles-cuttlefish-and-orangutans-all-have-in-common/
This article refers to them as "sneakers." I find this a little unwieldy, since of course that word also connotes a kind of footwear: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B7J0V-4S934SC-5&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=2cee2d4ce361d5b9041c255f4c98c528 This one refers to "sneaking behaviors" in beetles, but, as in the previous articles, stops short of naming them: http://dbs.umt.edu/research_labs/emlenlab/abstracts/AnBehavPDF.pdf Finally, Michael Majerus rather uncreatively called them "sneaks": http://books.google.com/books?id=vDHOYPQ2mmYC&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=while+males+fighting+for+females+sneak&source=bl&ots=c-1X6Vynue&sig=6f1egneHYxLzXKL6oCCNLrspgoE&hl=en&ei=DAitSofHFsnflAfw6OGrBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false I vote for "Omega" - if Alpha is the top of the heap, why not call the bottom of the heap by the last letter of the Greek alphabet? I was thinking maybe I could patent that, but alas, it seems I'm not the first to name that male "the Omega," while others refer to the "sneaker" as the Beta male. So I guess keeping in the Greek alphabet tradition, Beta and Omega are popular. Sociology appears to have already chosen "Omega" for the lowest-ranking member of a group, but I couldn't find any link for the Omega also having the behavior of sneaking to copulate while the Alpha contenders are, well, contending. Beth Benoit Granite State College Plymouth State University New Hampshire --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
