Importance of multiple mating to female reproductive output in Diaphorina citri

Abstract The importance of multiple mating to female reproductive output in Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) is evaluated by grouping individual females with one or three males for 24 h (short duration) or 2 weeks (long duration) and examining oviposition over 18–19 days. For the short‐duration treatments, females lay more eggs per day when grouped with multiple males, whereas females in the long‐duration treatments lay more eggs when paired with one male. When held for 24 h with one or three males, females show a decline in fecundity beginning 10 and 15 days after mating, respectively. Total fecundity is relatively high for females paired with one male for 2 weeks, but fecundity is low and mortality high when females are held with three males for 2 weeks. In treatments in which females are held with males for 2 weeks, oviposition increases dramatically in the days after removal of males. For females paired with a male for 24 h and re‐paired for 24 h, 9 days later, fecundity remains high throughout the 18–19‐day observation period. Egg fertility does not differ among treatments, but varies over time in a manner that is similar among treatments. The present study demonstrates that, in D. citri, females require multiple matings over time to achieve high reproductive output, but oviposition is constrained by the presence of males.