Male mating behavior in relation to spermatophore transfer in the white cabbage butterfly

Abstract The lifetime mating frequency of female butterflies is believed tobe dependent on the reproductive status of the males which they have mated. This report assesses those status using Pieris rapae L. Multiple mating females mated males with a short time interval after the last mating or males with many mating records. Such males, like small ones, produced small spermatophores during copulation, which may have resulted in high mating frequency of those females. The males with short time interval after the last mating or those with many mating records also showed a long mating duration. Alternative interpretations of the adaptive significance of this behavior for males are discussed.