Sperm Storage and Use After Multiple Mating in Dinarmus basalis (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) |
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Authors: | Claude Chevrier Christophe Bressac |
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Institution: | (1) Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UPRESA CNRS 6035, Faculté des Sciences, 37200 Tours, France |
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Abstract: | Multiple mating and its effects on the sex ratio in Dinarmus basalis (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea, Pteromalidae), an ectoparasitoid of Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae), were investigated under controlled conditions. Once-mated females suffer a sperm depletion about 21 days after mating and thereafter are constrained to produce only haploid males. On the other hand, three-times-mated females store more sperm in their spermathecae (335 vs 147) and produce daughters during the major part of their reproductive life. Consequently, once-mated females showed a male-biased life time sex ratio (mean = 0.31) as opposed to three-times-mated females (mean = 0.63). Females can copulate only at the beginning of their reproductive life, and multiple mating must occur before egg-laying activity. This behavioral strategy could be an avoidance of consanguinity in a promiscuous environment. This ectoparasitoid species reveals a reproductive strategy which promotes polyandry and a very high sperm efficiency. |
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Keywords: | parasitoid reproductive strategy offspring sex ratio sperm management polyandry |
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