The Mating Behaviour of Females ofGlossina palpalis(R.-D.) in Captivity

Abstract

Experiments were carried out in the laboratory with individually marked females of Glossina palpalis (R.-D.); various aspects of their mating behaviour, when placed with virgin 7-day-old males, were studied.Using virgins, females 1–3 days old mated for an average period of about two hours, females 4–9 days old for about 75 minutes, and 10-day-old females for somewhat less than one hour.Using virgins, mating was found to be relatively infrequent in 1-day-old females, maximal in females 2 and 3 days old and thereafter decreased as the age of the females increased.Females up to 10 days of age were found to be willing to mate on a number of occasions; re-mating was more frequent among the younger flies. The number of older females of G. palpalis which are prepared to re-mate is very small.Previously mated females of G. palpalis were shown to be less willing to mate than virgin females of the same age. It seems that this is due to a decrease in desire for mating by the females rather than a loss of attractiveness to males.The implication of these laboratory findings, in relation to fly behaviour in the field, is discussed. It is suggested that a considerable proportion of young females of G. palpalis is prepared to re-mate in nature, on a number of occasions, but that the desire for mating is extinguished much sooner in life in mated females than it is in virgin females.