Lifetime fecundity and female body size in Paraglenea fortunei (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

Abstract

To determine the reproductive traits of Paraglenea fortunei, 26 pairs of adults were reared on Boehmeria nivea leaves and stems under constant conditions. The mean lengths of preoviposition and oviposition periods of females were 4.8 and 32.0 days, respectively. Females made a mean of 456.8 wounds on stems for oviposition over their lifespan. A mean of 0.603 eggs was deposited under the epidermis through an oviposition wound. The mean lifetime fecundity was 275.7 eggs with a great difference between 62 and 748. Standardized regression analysis showed that the oviposition period was twice as responsible for the difference in lifetime fecundity as the oviposition rate. Path analysis also showed that the elytral length as an indicator of body size had an effect on lifetime fecundity through the oviposition rate but not through the oviposition period. The number of ovarioles per female averaged 24.0 and did not correlate with the elytral length. Thus, body size is considered to be associated with the oviposition rate via egg productivity per ovariole. The relationships between body size, oviposition rate, and ovariole number are discussed in comparison with another cerambycid beetle, Semanotus japonicus, the oogenesis of which is completed with the resources stored at larval stage.