Effects of Male Mate Choice on the Reproduction of Dendroctonus valens
CHEN Haifeng
Abstract：To investigate whether males of Dendroctonus valens could choose females according to pheromones,and effects of the selection behavior on reproduction,we used Y-tube olfactometer to validate this selection behavior,and used phloem sandwich experiments to test whether male mate preferences affected courtship displays by allowing males to mate with preferred (P)and nonpreferred (NP)females,respectively.We also used bolt inoculation experiments to validate the differences in egg gallery,oviposition,and larval development when males were paired with P females and NP females,respectively.The results showed that males could choose females based on pheromones.Males paired with P females improved the compatibility of courtship interaction,and the duration of copulation (P ＜0.05).When males were paired with P females,males and females constructed larger and cleaner galleries during the first 10 days after gallery initiation (P ＜ 0.05).P females had an overall higher proportion of larvae to eggs when compared to P females at 20 days(P ＜ 0.001),and the larvae of P females also had higher weights at 30 days(P ＜0.001).In a word,Dendroctonus valens had a behavior of male mate choice based on pheromones,which affected reproduction significantly.
Keywords：Dendroctonus valensmate choicepheromonescourtshipmatingreproduction
Publication Date：2017-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2026-09-12(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：6( 77-82 )