Mating Frequency of the Western Corn Rootworm1

Adult male western corn rootworms, Diabrotica virgifera LeConte, that had access to virgin females every 2–3 days mated a mean of 8.2 times throughout a mean lifetime of 41.6 days. All males tested mated more than once. However, only 7 of 30 ♀ tested mated twice. Two females of 30 mated a 2nd time during the preoviposition period following the 1st mating, but their 1st eggs resulted from the initial mating; eggs laid 10 days after the 2nd mating were fertilized by sperm from the 2nd mating. The other 5 ♀ remated during periods when they were not laying eggs. No females remated as long as they were actively laying eggs.