Abstract
Adults of a stink bug,Megacopta punctissimum, formed mating aggregations on their host plants: a few pairs in copula and a few bachelor males (males not in copula) stayed in the aggregation and the bachelor males waited for arriving females to mate with. The processes of formation and maintenance of the aggregations were observed using the individual marking technique. Aggregations initiated by 2 males or by 1 male and 1 female were usually joined by 1 or more individuals and lasted for several days, but aggregations initiated by 2 females broke up within 1 h. Aggregations were not maintained by the same members. The residence time (time from joining an aggregation to leaving the aggregation without copulating) of males was longer than that of females. There was a negative correlation between the residence time of males and the number of bachelor males in an aggregation when bugs joined it, while the residence time of females was positively correlated with the number of bachelor males in the aggregation. When bugs copulated after joining an aggregation, the postcopulatory residence time (time from completing copulation to leaving the aggregation) was longer in males than in females. Thus, males had a stronger tendency to initiate and maintain aggregations than females.
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Hibino, Y. Formation and maintenance of mating aggregations in a stink bug,Megacopta punctissimum (Montandon) (Heteroptera: Plataspidae). J. Ethol. 3, 123–129 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02350302
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02350302