Eur. J. Entomol. 120: 1-8, 2023 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2023.001

Effects of male age, body size and mating status on female mate preference and offspring sex ratio in Pachycrepoideus vindemmiae (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae)Original article

Jing LI1, 2, Yu WANG1, Yong-Zhuo CHEN1, Peng-Cheng LIU1, Hao-Yuan HU1, *
1 Collaborative Innovation Center of Recovery and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystem in Wanjiang Basin Co-founded by Anhui Province and Ministry of Education, School of Ecology and Environment, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241000, Anhui, P. R. China; e-mails: ahnulijing@126.com, 379295525@qq.com, yongzhuochen@126.com, 15952015986@163.com
2 Department of Health Inspection and Quarantine, Faculty of Medicine, Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, Anhui, P. R. China

Mate choice is one of the main components of sexual selection, with females usually considered to be the selective sex. Male status is an important factor that affects female choice and to a large extent female mating preference. Pachycrepoideus vindemmiae (Rondani) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) is an important solitary ectoparasitic idiobiont parasitoid that attacks several fly species and thus can be used as a biological control agent. We explored the influence of male status on mate selection, fecundity and offspring sex ratio. The results show that (1) P. vindemmiae females prefer to mate with young and large males and tended to choose males with only one mating experience; (2) the age, body size and mating status of males did not significantly affect female fecundity; and (3) the proportion of male offspring was larger when females mated with older, small and more often mated males. These results show that P. vindemmiae females prefer to mate with young and large males that had mated few times, and that mating with these males results in a higher proportion of female offspring. In addition, this study also indicates the way of rearing P. vindemmiae that produce more female offspring for use as biological control agents.

Keywords: Insect, parasitoid, sexual selection, female choice

Received: July 8, 2021; Revised: December 7, 2022; Accepted: December 7, 2022; Published online: January 16, 2023  Show citation

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LI, J., WANG, Y., CHEN, Y., LIU, P., & HU, H. (2023). Effects of male age, body size and mating status on female mate preference and offspring sex ratio in Pachycrepoideus vindemmiae (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae). EJE, 120, Article 1-8. https://doi.org/10.14411/eje.2023.001
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