Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T20:33:17.294Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOUR AND PHYSIOLOGY OF TENEBRIO MOLITOR (COLEOPTERA: TENEBRIONIDAE): I. INITIATION OF MATING IN YOUNG ADULTS AND THE EFFECTS OF ADULT DENSITY1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

G. H. Gerber
Affiliation:
Research Station, Canada Department of Agriculture, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Abstract

Adults of Tenebrio molitor L. can copulate on the second day after eclosion, but the majority of them do not do so until after the third day. Almost all adults copulated at least once within the first 4 to 5 days. Young females initiated copulation at a slightly earlier age than young males. Crowding enhances mating success in young adults, for which there appears to be a critical minimum adult density. The initiation of copulation was not inhibited at very high densities; this suggests that there is not a critical maximum adult density for mating success.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1973

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

August, C. J. 1971. The role of male and female pheromones in the mating behaviour of Tenebrio molitor. J. Insect Physiol. 17: 739751.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dick, J. 1937. Oviposition in certain Coleoptera. Ann. appl. Biol. 24: 762796.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerber, G. H. 1967. A possible mechanism for the regulation of the female reproductive cycle in Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Can. Ent. 99: 12981303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Happ, G. M. 1969. Multiple sex pheromones of the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor L. Nature, Lond. 222: 180181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Happ, G. M. 1970. Maturation of the response of male Tenebrio molitor to the female sex pheromone. Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 63: 1782.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Happ, G. M., Schroeder, M. E., and Wang, J. C. H.. 1970. Effects of male and female scent on reproduction in young female Tenebrio molitor. J. Insect Physiol. 16: 15431548.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Happ, G. M. and Wheeler, J.. 1969. Bioassay, preliminary purification, and effect of age, crowding, and mating on the release of sex pheromone by female Tenebrio molitor. Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 62: 846851.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laverdure, A.-M. 1972. L'évolution de l'ovaire chez la femelle adulte de Tenebrio molitor — La vitellogenèse. J. Insect Physiol. 18: 13691385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mordue, W. 1965. Studies on öocyte production and associated histological changes in the neuro-endocrine system in Tenebrio molitor L. J. Insect Physiol. 11: 493503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norris, M. J. 1954. Sexual maturation in the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria Forskäl) with special reference to the effects of grouping. Anti-Locust Bull. 18. 44 pp.Google Scholar
Tschinkel, W., Willson, C., and Bern, H. A.. 1967. Sex pheromone of the mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor). J. exp. Zool. 164: 8186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valentine, J. M. 1931. The olfactory sense of the adult mealworm beetle Tenebrio molitor (Linn.). J. exp. Zool. 58: 165227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar