ARTHROPOD BIOLOGY Size and Chemical Composition of Heliothis virescens (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Spermatophores

The tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens (F.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a polyandrous species of economic importance on the American continent. This sexual behavior allows for the presence of multiple spermatophores inside a female and the possibility of different males fertilizing the femaleÕs offspring, which can make insecticide resistance management or sterile insect release programs particularly challenging. The presence of spermatophores in a female can greatly inßuence her behavior, physiology, and offspring production. The role that these reproductive structures have is directly inßuenced by their size and the amount and type of substances that they contain as they are passed into the female during copulation. In this study, we investigated the role that male feeding has on mating potential, including the basic chemical composition and coloration of three sequentially produced spermatophores by male moths that were fed nothing, water, sucrose solution, or nectar. Male moth feeding had a direct inßuence on spermatophore weight, which was usedas an indicator of polyandrousbehavior.Nectar-fedmothsproducedheavier spermatophores and copulated in greater proportion than moths exposed to the other treatments. The total sugar and protein content of spermatophores was not inßuenced by the type of male feeding. Red or pink spermatophoresweremoreprevalent in theÞrst-produced spermatophores, diminishing inproportion on the second, and increasing again on the third-produced spermatophore, but this coloration proportionwasprevalent ofmales not fedor fedonlywater. Therewerenodifferences in the chemical composition of the different colored spermatophores. These results indicate that polygynous behavior on H. virescens can be inßuenced by the type of male feeding.