Effect of oviposition substrate on female remating in Callosobruchus chinensis (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

Abstract

We investigated the effect of the presence of an oviposition substrate on female remating behavior in three strains of the adzuki bean beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis. In the two strains with low levels of female remating, females maintained with an oviposition substrate, and thus allowed to lay eggs, had a greater tendency to remate than females maintained without an oviposition substrate to prevent them from laying eggs. The oviposition substrate had no significant effect on female remating in the strain with a high level of female remating. The results indicate that female remating is influenced by the presence of an oviposition substrate, an environmental factor, in C. chinensis. This suggests that females adaptively change their receptivity to remate in response to environmental factors affecting the costs and benefits of remating in C. chinensis.