Mating frequency of normal vs sterile male boll weevils in the laboratory

Male Anthonomus grandis Boheman, treated with a combination of ..gamma.. irradiation and hempa in the diet, mated ca. one-half as often as untreated males when paired individually with 4 virgin females/day. Examination of spermathecae showed that females mated to treated males contained an average of ca. /sup 1///sub 3/ as much sperm as females mated to untreated males. Thus, considering spermathecal filling and mating frequency, treated males transferred only ca. /sup 1///sub 6/ as much sperm as untreated males. When paired with females immediately after treatment, treated males inseminated an average of 18.3 female before aspermia occurred; however, when treated males were first held without females for 10 days, they were capable of inseminating an average of only 4.1 females.