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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
G. H. Gerber
Affiliation:
Research Station, Canada Department of Agriculture, Winnipeg, Manitoba
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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
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 105 , Issue 5 , May 1973 , pp. 807 - 811
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1973

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