Mating Studies on the Pink Bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), Based on Presence of Spermatophores1

Each spermatophore in the bursa copulatrix of a mated female pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossyipella (Saunders), was found to represent a separate mating; however, no successful transfer of spermatophores was accomplished in matings lasting less than 30 min, or in a small percentage of those lasting longer. Many moths that emerged during the night mated that same night. Males mated successfully only once during their first 24 hr as adults, but multiple mating occurred among females of the same age. When males or females were caged throughout their life span with abundant moths of the opposite sex, 95% and 97.6%, respectively, mated. Potential mating frequency averaged 4.2 times (range 0–10) for males and 2.3 times (range 0–8) for females in these laboratory-reared insects.