Rate of ejaculate breakdown and intermating intervals in monarch butterflies

✍ Scribed by Karen S. Oberhauser

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1992
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 781 KB
• Volume: 31
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0340-5443
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00177777

✦ Synopsis

Both mass and nitrogen content of ejaculates transferred by male monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) varied with male history. Older virgins and males that had waited longer after a previous mating transferred larger ejaculates with more nitrogen. After mating, ejaculates were broken down within the female bursa copulatrix; mass and nitrogen content decreased at constant rates until little material remained. Because the time required for breakdown of large spermatophores is longer than the intermating interval, a significant portion of a male's investment could be used to benefit offspring from other males.