Influence of Delayed Mating on Egg Production, Egg Viability, Mating, and Longevity of Female Pink Bollworm (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

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Abstract
Virgin female pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders), were paired individually with a 2- to 3-d-old virgin male for one night at ages <1, 1, 5, 10, and 15 d from eclosion in lots of 25. Virgin females served as controls. Records were kept on numbers of eggs deposited daily, percentage hatch, and day of adult death. All dead females were dissected to determine mating status. When total females of each age group were considered, mating at the age of 5, 10, and 15 d resulted in significantly less mating, fewer eggs, less hatch, and fewer first-instar larvae than when mating occurred at the age of <1 and 1 d. Virgins lived significantly longer than females mated at <1, 1, and 5 d of age. Mating delays of 10 and 15 d resulted in longevities similar to that of virgins. Differences in mating and oviposition between treatments for mated and total females were statistically similar, and there were no significant differences in percentage hatch of eggs produced by mated females regardless of the female's age. These results suggest that one mating provided adequate sperm to fertilize available eggs. Mated females showed a marked oviposition response on the second night after mating. Generation increases established from previously reported field populations and compared with reproduction in the current study show that mating delays of 5 d or more could result in a 5-fold decrease in population density over four generations.