Reviews

Sphaerophoria rueppelli adults change their foraging behavior after mating but maintain the same preferences to flower traits

“…Gravid females were obtained by placing males and females in the same cage from emergence to the date of the experiment. After the experiments, virgin and gravid females were examined to check their mating status (Gilbert 1993).…”

“…Males of hoverflies only need an initial amount of pollen to allow spermatogenesis and can later feed mostly on nectar to meet their high energetic demands for sustaining their search for mates. On the other hand, females require higher amounts of pollen and for a longer period in order to achieve ovary maturation and continuous oviposition (Branquart and Hemptinne 2000a;Gilbert 1993;Gilbert 1981;Haslett 1989a). In this regard, hunger can also increase hoverfly attraction to yellow water traps, while satiated individuals are less likely to invest effort in investigating a distant food source (Hickman et al 2001;Laubertie et al 2006;Wratten et al 2003).…”