Atypical functioning of female genitalia explains monandry in a butterfly

Monandrous species are rare in nature, especially in animals where males transfer nutrients to females in the ejaculate. The proximate mechanisms responsible for monandry are poorly studied. In butterflies and moths, the male transfers a nutritious spermatophore into the corpus bursae (CB) of the fe...

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Autores principales:	David Xochipiltecatl, Joaquín Baixeras, Carlos R. Cordero
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	PeerJ Inc. 2021
Materias:	Female genitalia Spermatophore Mating frequency Monandry Sexual selection Lepidoptera Medicine R
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/b0768fd950204607beda7be649540405
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:b0768fd950204607beda7be6495404052021-11-24T15:05:13ZAtypical functioning of female genitalia explains monandry in a butterfly10.7717/peerj.124992167-8359https://doaj.org/article/b0768fd950204607beda7be6495404052021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://peerj.com/articles/12499.pdfhttps://peerj.com/articles/12499/https://doaj.org/toc/2167-8359Monandrous species are rare in nature, especially in animals where males transfer nutrients to females in the ejaculate. The proximate mechanisms responsible for monandry are poorly studied. In butterflies and moths, the male transfers a nutritious spermatophore into the corpus bursae (CB) of the female. The CB is a multifunctional organ that digests the spermatophore and has partial control of the post-mating sexual receptivity of the female. The spermatophore distends the CB and the post-mating sexual receptivity of the female is inversely proportional to the degree of distension. The CB of many butterfly species has a muscular sheath whose contractions mechanically contribute to digest the spermatophore. As the contents of the CB are absorbed, the degree of distension decreases and the female recovers receptivity. We studied the monandrous butterfly Leptophobia aripa (Boisduval, 1836) (Pieridae) and found that females do not digest the spermatophores. We investigated the structure of the CB and found that a muscular sheath is absent, indicating that in this butterfly females lack the necessary “apparatus” for the mechanical digestion of the spermatophore. We propose that female monandry in this species is result of its incapability to mechanically digest the spermatophore, which results in a constant degree of CB distension after mating and, thus, in the maintenance of the sexually unreceptive state of females. Hypotheses on the evolution of this mechanism are discussed.David XochipiltecatlJoaquín BaixerasCarlos R. CorderoPeerJ Inc.articleFemale genitaliaSpermatophoreMating frequencyMonandrySexual selectionLepidopteraMedicineRENPeerJ, Vol 9, p e12499 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Female genitalia Spermatophore Mating frequency Monandry Sexual selection Lepidoptera Medicine R
spellingShingle	Female genitalia Spermatophore Mating frequency Monandry Sexual selection Lepidoptera Medicine R David Xochipiltecatl Joaquín Baixeras Carlos R. Cordero Atypical functioning of female genitalia explains monandry in a butterfly
description	Monandrous species are rare in nature, especially in animals where males transfer nutrients to females in the ejaculate. The proximate mechanisms responsible for monandry are poorly studied. In butterflies and moths, the male transfers a nutritious spermatophore into the corpus bursae (CB) of the female. The CB is a multifunctional organ that digests the spermatophore and has partial control of the post-mating sexual receptivity of the female. The spermatophore distends the CB and the post-mating sexual receptivity of the female is inversely proportional to the degree of distension. The CB of many butterfly species has a muscular sheath whose contractions mechanically contribute to digest the spermatophore. As the contents of the CB are absorbed, the degree of distension decreases and the female recovers receptivity. We studied the monandrous butterfly Leptophobia aripa (Boisduval, 1836) (Pieridae) and found that females do not digest the spermatophores. We investigated the structure of the CB and found that a muscular sheath is absent, indicating that in this butterfly females lack the necessary “apparatus” for the mechanical digestion of the spermatophore. We propose that female monandry in this species is result of its incapability to mechanically digest the spermatophore, which results in a constant degree of CB distension after mating and, thus, in the maintenance of the sexually unreceptive state of females. Hypotheses on the evolution of this mechanism are discussed.
format	article
author	David Xochipiltecatl Joaquín Baixeras Carlos R. Cordero
author_facet	David Xochipiltecatl Joaquín Baixeras Carlos R. Cordero
author_sort	David Xochipiltecatl
title	Atypical functioning of female genitalia explains monandry in a butterfly
title_short	Atypical functioning of female genitalia explains monandry in a butterfly
title_full	Atypical functioning of female genitalia explains monandry in a butterfly
title_fullStr	Atypical functioning of female genitalia explains monandry in a butterfly
title_full_unstemmed	Atypical functioning of female genitalia explains monandry in a butterfly
title_sort	atypical functioning of female genitalia explains monandry in a butterfly
publisher	PeerJ Inc.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/b0768fd950204607beda7be649540405
work_keys_str_mv	AT davidxochipiltecatl atypicalfunctioningoffemalegenitaliaexplainsmonandryinabutterfly AT joaquinbaixeras atypicalfunctioningoffemalegenitaliaexplainsmonandryinabutterfly AT carlosrcordero atypicalfunctioningoffemalegenitaliaexplainsmonandryinabutterfly
_version_	1718414950733447168

Atypical functioning of female genitalia explains monandry in a butterfly

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