Polyandry and fecundity in the Lepidoptera: can methodological and conceptual approaches bias outcomes?

Torres‐Vila, Luis M.; Rodríguez‐Molina, M. C.; Jennions, Michael D.

doi:10.1007/s00265-003-0712-2

Cited by 76 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…Although sugar-fed mated females produced slightly less pheromone than either sugaror water-fed virgins, the high level of polyandry observed in H. virescens (Lamunyon, 2000;Raulston et al, 1975) suggests that virgins are readily mated and that competition for additional mates among mated females may be important. Therefore, sugar feeding by mated females of polyandrous moth species may be important for increasing fecundity directly (Ramaswamy et al, 1997), as well as indirectly, by increasing the likelihood of further matings, which in turn causes increased fecundity (Torres-Vila et al, 2004). Such enhanced effects on fecundity should be accounted for in studies on female fitness and benefits of nectar feeding by night-flying pollinating moths.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sugar feedingviatrehalose haemolymph concentration affects sex pheromone production in matedHeliothis virescensmoths

Foster

2009

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYLong-distance, female-produced sex pheromones are widespread among moths. Larval feeding provides most of the nutrients for development of these insects but is not thought to influence the de novo production of the fatty-acid derived compounds used as pheromones by most species. Feeding on plant nectar (sugar) by adult moths is important for increasing female fitness and also for the pollination of many plant species. In this paper, I show that feeding on sucrose solution, as opposed to water, increases sex pheromone titre in mated, but not virgin, female Heliothis virescens. Mating caused a rapid decrease in haemolymph trehalose concentration, which was restored to near-virgin levels by sugar ingestion. When isolated mated female abdomens were cultured with different concentrations of trehalose, pheromone titre increased with increasing trehalose concentration. This effect was not observed when abdomens were cultured on saline containing the sugar rhamnose, which insects cannot metabolise to glucose. Virgins injected with the juvenile hormone (JH) analogue, methoprene, showed the same effects as mated females with respect to pheromone titre and haemolymph trehalose concentration. Thus, following mating increases in JH titre increase demand for, and lowering of, blood sugar to develop oocytes, which can be compensated for by sugar ingestion. Haemolymph trehalose concentration probably influences glycolysis in gland cells and, consequently, levels of cytosolic citrate and acetyl-CoA for pheromone biosynthesis. This increase in pheromone titre in sugar-fed, mated females may facilitate further mating and increased fecundity. Thus, exogenous sugar feeding is behaviourally and physiologically integrated with endogenous JH titre to maximise female fitness.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sugar feedingviatrehalose haemolymph concentration affects sex pheromone production in matedHeliothis virescensmoths

Foster

2009

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Gwynne et al , 1984;Jones et al , 1986;Svärd & Wiklund, 1988;Wedell & Arak, 1989;Will & Sakaluk, 1994;Ward & Landolt, 1995;Vahed & Gilbert, 1997;Cook, 1999;Maxwell, 2000;Ryne et al , 2001;Vahed, 2003 ; see also Torres-Vila et al , 2004 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuptial food gifts influence female egg production in the scorpionfly Panorpa cognata

Engqvist

2007

Ecological Entomology

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. 1. Before copulation, male Panorpa cognata scorpionflies offer females a salivary secretion, which is consumed by the female during copulation. It has previously been demonstrated that this nuptial food gift functions as mating effort by increasing male attractiveness and by increasing ejaculate transfer during copulation.2. In this study, the effect of saliva consumption on female reproductive output was investigated, and thus the possibility that nuptial food gifts also serve as paternal investment. The experimental design enabled the effect of nuptial gift consumption to be disentangled from other possible effects of multiple mating or increased copula duration.3. The results showed that saliva consumption increases female egg production by on average 8% (4.5 eggs) per consumed salivary mass, whereas mean egg weight was not influenced.4. These results have important implications for the evolution and maintenance of both male nuptial gifts and female polyandry in this and other species.

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“…These positive effects include compensation for mating with a genetically incompatible, inferior, or infertile male and an increase in genetic variability among the offspring ( [16,17], and references therein). Moreover, substances in the male ejaculate (nuptial gifts) can increase female lifespan [18,19], female fecundity (see [20] for an overview), and offspring fitness [21,22]. Positive effects of the ejaculate act either directly, by providing extra resources for somatic maintenance of females ( [18] and references therein [19,23]), or indirectly, by protecting the female against predators (e.g., the pyrrolizidine alkaloids transferred by male Utetheisa ornatrix [24]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Cost of Mating: Influences of Life History Traits and Mating Strategies on Lifespan in Two Closely RelatedYponomeutaSpecies

Bakker

Louçã

Roessingh

et al. 2011

International Journal of Zoology

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Theory predicts that in monandrous butterfly species males should not invest in a long lifespan because receptive females quickly disappear from the mating population. In polyandrous species, however, it pays for males to invest in longevity, which increases the number of mating opportunities and thus reproductive fitness. We tested an extension of this idea and compared male and female lifespan of two closely related Yponomeuta species with different degree of polyandry. Our results confirmed the theoretical prediction that male lifespan is fine-tuned to female receptive lifespan; once-mated males and females of both polyandrous species had an equal lifespan. However, the degree of polyandry was not reflected in male relative to female lifespan. The observed similar female and male lifespan could largely be attributed to a dramatic reduction of female lifespan after mating.

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Polyandry and fecundity in the Lepidoptera: can methodological and conceptual approaches bias outcomes?

Cited by 76 publications

References 81 publications

Sugar feedingviatrehalose haemolymph concentration affects sex pheromone production in matedHeliothis virescensmoths

Sugar feedingviatrehalose haemolymph concentration affects sex pheromone production in matedHeliothis virescensmoths

Nuptial food gifts influence female egg production in the scorpionfly Panorpa cognata

The Cost of Mating: Influences of Life History Traits and Mating Strategies on Lifespan in Two Closely RelatedYponomeutaSpecies

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