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Mating Conflict

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Sperm Competition in Butterflies

Part of the book series: Ecological Research Monographs ((ECOLOGICAL))

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Abstract

Although the nutrients for the reproductive output of females are amino acids from the host plants during the larval stage, sugars from nectar during the adult stage and ejaculates from the conspecific males during copulation, the only intake of amino acids and sugars in males is as major nutrients for somatic maintenance and ejaculate production. In addition, deriving saline from mud puddling behaviour could be an important role for male matings in some species, as well as for the muscular and nervous systems of the body itself. The most adequate host plants for nutrition might increase the male body in size; then, the large males are probably preferred by females when they are encountered because the large males transfer a larger amount of ejaculates, probably with a large amount of sperm. Sugars and saline are also important for males to produce an increased spermatophore mass, particularly mated males. Because the nutrients derived from the host plants could produce less than a half spermatophore at the subsequent mating, mated males have to resort exclusively to nectar during a certain period after mating to produce a full-sized spermatophore for the next mating. Because monogamous females can lay eggs throughout their lifespan, the quality of sperm until fertilisation has been somewhat of a concern. However, recent studies indicated that males can manipulate the quantity of eupyrene and apyrene sperm to transfer with his mating history, probably affected by the nutrition shortage in males. The large spermatophore transferred in the bursa copulatrix stimulates release of the female mate refusal posture against males showing courtship behaviour. The larger a spermatophore is transferred, the longer the unreceptive period of females might appear. In polyandrous species, therefore, males might evolve to produce a large spermatophore to avoid sperm competition among the sperm of different males. Thus, males of the European pierid butterflies transferred a single spermatophore that was about 25 % of body mass for the paternity.

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  1. Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Mamoru Watanabe

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Watanabe, M. (2016). Mating Conflict. In: Sperm Competition in Butterflies. Ecological Research Monographs. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55945-0_5

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