Strategic sperm allocation in the Small White butterfly <i>Pieris rapae</i> (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

Wedell, Nina; Cook, Penny A.

doi:10.1046/j.1365-2435.1999.00286.x

Cited by 61 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 59 publications

(72 reference statements)

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“…2). A positive association between a male size and spermatophore mass that had been reportedly found in butterflies and other insects (Bissoondath and Wiklund, 1996;Karlsson, 1998;Wedell and Cook, 1999;Wiklund and Kaitala, 1995) confirms our findings. Further, this finding corroborates previous finding that spermatophore mass and fertile sperm numbers increased with male size, while non fertile sperm numbers were unrelated to male size (Fischer et al, 2009;Lewis and Wedell, 2007).…”

Section: Male Size and Sperm Numbersupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Earlier reports also revealed that male provided larger females with ejaculates frequently contain more sperm that have increased fecundity in many insects (Engqvist and Suer, 2003;Gage, 1998;Gage and Barnard, 1996;Wedell and Cook, 1999). That at least some male Lepidoptera seem capable of assessing female quality and reproductive potential, and adjust their ejaculate accordingly.…”

Section: Lifetime Fecunditymentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Males allocate its sperm in a most adaptive way among ejaculate when it mate more than once (Cook and Wedell, 1996) and in some species males are able to vary the number of sperms ejaculated according to circumstance. Male mating with large females ejaculated more spermatozoa than when mating with small females (Engqvist and Sauer, 2003;Gage, 1998;Gage and Barnard, 1996;Wedell and Cook, 1999). The ejaculate weight decreases over successive matings is very common in insects (Damiens and Boivin, 2006;Eady, 1995;Lauer, 1996;Lewis, 2004;Savalli and Fox, 1999a, b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Male Mating History in Antheraea mylitta and its Effect on Ejaculation Size and Female Reproductive Fitness

Rath¹

2011

International Journal of Industrial Entomology

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Reproductive activity in the economically important insect, Antheraea mylitta is very important because the female reproduces only once in her life time and the aging is very rapid and costly. It is a capital breeder and strictly a monoandrous species. To know how strategically the insect behaves and the male allocates its ejaculate resource more prudently during its successive mating with virgin females to maximize its own fitness and the fitness of the female with whom it mated, both being most important to sericulture industry. So, the present study was undertaken and the results revealed fresh and virgin females always prefer to mate with fresh virgin males (84%) and receives high dose of ejaculates leading to higher hatchability than to virgin males of one day old (13.7%) and one day old males with mating experience (2.3%). The ejaculation size (as referred to eupyrene sperm count in the ejaculation) declined significantly over successive mating (r = −0.9931, P < 0.001), so also the male body weight (r = −0.9560, P < 0.001). The quantity of ejaculate passed to female also dramatically declined during aging (r = −0.9982, P < 0.001). It was found that male weight contribute substantially to the quantum of ejaculate (r = −0.9519, P < 0.001), so also higher fecund females receive relatively more ejaculate than the lower group to reach higher reproductive fitness. The life time fecundity was found to be 334 ± 31.

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Section: Male Size and Sperm Numbersupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Lifetime Fecunditymentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Male Mating History in Antheraea mylitta and its Effect on Ejaculation Size and Female Reproductive Fitness

Rath¹

2011

International Journal of Industrial Entomology

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“…The contribution from the males can be quite substantial, and in Pieris napi multiply mated females attain almost twice the fecundity of females that have mated only once. Hence, females often forage for matings (Kaitala & Wiklund 1994), and in the light of the bene¢ts accrued monandry as a female strategy can be more problematic to explain than polyandry (Arnqvist & Nilsson 2000;Wedell et al 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual conflict and cooperation in butterfly reproduction: a comparative study of polyandry and female fitness

Wiklund

Karlsson

Leimar

2001

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Most butter£y species can be characterized as capital breeders, meaning that reproductive output is strongly coupled to the amount of resources they have procured during the larval stage. Accordingly, female fecundity is generally correlated with female mass, both within and across species. However, the females of some species can be partly characterized as income breeders, in the sense that their reproductive output is dependent not only on larval-derived capital but also on resources acquired during the adult stage. These adult resources can be derived from female feeding or from male-transferred nuptial gifts. Recent studies on the within-species e¡ects of multiple matings on female ¢tness show that females generally gain directly from multiple matings in terms of increased lifetime o¡spring production. Here, we test whether the positive e¡ects of multiple mating on female ¢tness also hold at a comparative level, by conducting a laboratory study of female reproductive output in eight pierid species that di¡er in lifetime female mating frequency. Female reproductive output, measured as cumulative egg mass divided by female mass, increased signi¢cantly with polyandry (r 0.942, p 5 0.001), demonstrating that the positive e¡ect of mating rate on female reproductive ¢tness also holds between species. The positive e¡ect of male nutrient contribution is substantial, and the per capita reproductive output is more than twice as high in the most polyandrous species as in the most monandrous ones. Hence, the positive net e¡ect of the ejaculates is highly substantial, although males and females can have sexual interests that run counter to each other, setting the stage for sexually antagonistic coevolution, so that the various component parts of the male ejaculateösperm, nutrients, anti-aphrodisiacs, and gonadotrophic hormonesömay each correspond to a separate con£ict^cooperation balance between the sexes. Two scenarios for the evolution of nuptial gifts in butter£ies are discussed, one arguing that variation in larval food is the underlying factor and the other arguing that sexually antagonistic coevolution is the driving force. The two views are complementary rather than mutually exclusive, although the former hypothesis predicts that variation in female mating rate depends on variation in larval food availability, whereas the latter suggests that variation in female mating rate between species results from species-speci¢c idiosyncrasies.

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“…However, it is unknown whether there is a positive relationship between copulation duration and ejaculate transfer in soldier flies. Males have been shown to adjust ejaculate size in response to SC in several species (Gage 1991;Wedell and Cook 1999;Engqvist 2007;Ramm et al 2009), and there are numerous examples that show that larger ejaculates result in higher fertilization success (Simmons 1987;Simmons et al 1996;Arnqvist and Danielsson 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Integrative View of Postcopulatory Sexual Selection in a Soldier Fly: Interplay Between Cryptic Mate Choice and Sperm Competition

Barbosa

2015

Cryptic Female Choice in Arthropods

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Cryptic female choice (CFC) can occur in the same species in conjunction with other postcopulatory processes, such as sperm competition (SC) and cryptic male choice (CMC). However, each of these processes has been mostly studied in isolation. Little is known about how they interact with each other and how this interplay affects the role they play in sexual selection. This chapter addresses the interplay between CFC, CMC, and SC in the soldier fly, Merosargus cingulatus (Diptera: Stratiomyidae). Soldier flies mate at oviposition sites; both sexes mate multiply and males perform copulatory courtship. Here, we describe the different postcopulatory processes that occur in this species: Females use control of oviposition timing as a CFC mechanism. Males show cryptic preferences for larger females and respond to SC cues by increasing copulation duration. Male reproductive success is, therefore, a result of a number of factors: oviposition behavior, copulatory courtship, copulation duration, female size, and male density at the oviposition site. The interaction between CFC and other postcopulatory processes sheds light on its potential impact on sexual selection and evolution.

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Strategic sperm allocation in the Small White butterfly Pieris rapae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

Cited by 61 publications

References 59 publications

Male Mating History in Antheraea mylitta and its Effect on Ejaculation Size and Female Reproductive Fitness

Male Mating History in Antheraea mylitta and its Effect on Ejaculation Size and Female Reproductive Fitness

Sexual conflict and cooperation in butterfly reproduction: a comparative study of polyandry and female fitness

An Integrative View of Postcopulatory Sexual Selection in a Soldier Fly: Interplay Between Cryptic Mate Choice and Sperm Competition

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