within an evolutionarily stable strategy, several scenarios are possible, including pure and mixed strategies. a pure strategy is one not affected by chance, in which an individual only expresses one strategic behaviour. in contrast, a mixed strategy describes a scenario involving the probabilistic expression of behaviours among individuals. for example, an individual under a mixed strategy could express one mating tactic, such as sneaking, with a certain frequency and another tactic, such as mate guarding, at all other times. though a mixed strategy is theoretically possible, it has not been documented in the context of alternative mating behaviours. instead, a conditional strategy involving alternative behaviours may best characterize alternative mating strategies.