spermatophore counting (Pieridae)

Knowledge graph centered on spermatophore counting (Pieridae) with 20 nodes and 87 connections. Top connected: Ligusticum porteri, Lepidoptera, elevational gradients, Colias, thermal performance.

Method synopsis

Dissection and counting of spermatophores in female bursa copulatrix to quantify mating success and reproductive history in wild-caught butterflies.

Synthesized from method descriptions across 1 paper using this protocol.

Procedure from a recent peer-reviewed implementation

Steps below were extracted from the most recent peer-reviewed implementation of this protocol in the corpus — The evolution of wing color: male mate choice opposes adaptive wing color divergence in <i>Colias</i> butterflies (2003), Evolution. Implementations in other papers (listed below) may differ.

1. Collect wild females for mating success analysis
   Females were collected from highland populations and two lowland populations by hand netting during September 1999 and September 2000. Females were frozen after capture and later dissected to count spermatophores in the bursa copulatrix. Age was estimated based on wing wear using a scale from one (no scale loss) to five (more than 50% of the scales lost).
   Quantities: 149 females total examined, age scale 1-5 based on scale loss percentageDuration: September 1999 and September 2000Conditions: Field collection conditions
   Equipment: hand nets, freezer, dissection equipment

Typical Equipment

• hand nets
• freezer
• dissection equipment

Output Measurements

• number of matings
• mating success

Papers Using This Protocol (1)

Species Studied With This Protocol