Nuptial gifts and the use of body resources for reproduction in the green-veined white butterfly Pieris napi

Reproduction in butterflies, as in many holometabolous insects, is usually constrained by the amount of nutrients the animals can collect as juveniles . In polyandric species the females can also supplement their larval-derive d reserves with protein-rich donations, so-called nuptial gifts, delivered by the males at mating. Recent findings also indicate that females have acc ess to nitrogen from the histolysis of flight muscles in the thorax. This f ield study examined how butterflies of the polyandric gift-giving species P ieris napi (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) use body resources in their reproduction and how the male donations affect the females use of stored reserves. The results support earlier studies, indicating that females use resources from the breakdown of thorax muscles to increase their reproductive potential a nd the results also indicate that males also use thorax material in their r eproduction. The study also supports recent findings that the male donation increases the breakdown of body resources and thereby boosts the reproduct ive output of the female.