Abstract

Knowledge of the reproductive behaviour of a pest species is beneficial to improving pest control strategies, particularly those based on perturbing reproduction, such as sex pheromone-based mating disruption. Following copulation, mated females of the different ages were individually transferred to separate 34 ml, clear plastic containers, with a 10% sugar solution absorbed onto a cotton wick. A 2 x 2 cm long blue felt cloth, dusted evenly with ca. 1 mg of H. annuus (variety RHA 274) pollen over its entire surface, was added to the container as an oviposition substrate. Mean fecundity, fertility and longevity were all analyzed by ANOVA. Data were checked for normality and homogeneity of variance; if non-normally distributed, data were transformed and checked again (arcsine or log). Age of female H. electellum at time of first mating significantly influenced lifetime fecundity (F=7.93, df = 4, 45, P<0.0001, ANOVA) and fertility (F=9.09, df =4, 45, P<0001). In general, younger females had greater fecundity and fertility than did older females. Thus, females that first mated at 1 day were significantly more fecund and had greater fertility than did females that first mated at 3 days or older.