This paper explores what factors influence size, development time and growth rate in a polyandrous and bivoltine butterfly, Pieris napi L. In butterflies male/female sexual size dimorphism has been shown to be positively correlated with female polygamy. Hence, males of P. napi should be selected for large size. Comparing time constraints between the directly developing and the diapause developing generations, it is obvious that the former is more pressed for time, having to complete two generation cycles in one season, whereas the latter only completes one life cycle. On top of this comes selection on males to emerge before females. Rearing larvae at the critical daylength, where part of the individuals develop directly and part diapause, a two-way ANOVA on growth rate shows that there is an interaction between sex and developmental pathway (...)
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Wiklund et al. (1991) studied this question.