The importance of overwinter aggregation for reproductive success of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus L.)

✍ Scribed by Harrington Wells; Patrick H. Wells; Peyton Cook

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1990
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 856 KB
• Volume: 147
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-5193
• DOI: 10.1016/s0022-5193(05)80255-3

✦ Synopsis

A model of monarch bufferfly mating in overwinter aggregations is presented. Mating success each day is predicted to be a function of second-order kinetics. Therefore, increased density increases each individual's frequency of mating. Since multiple mating of females is critical for female energetics in overwinter populations (and in turn fecundity), and mating frequency is based on second-order kinetics, aggregations play an indispensable role in the reproduction dynamics of overwintering Danaus plexippus.