Lepidoptera Lasciviousness

[Michael Gochfeld]

Mary Beth, 

It sounds exciting. It doesn't strike me as unexpected. When typical 
behaviors are thwarted they may be redirected to an inappropriate 
object. That's probably pretty classical Lorenz/Tinbergen stuff. But, I 
don't know that anyone has actually documented its form as you have. 
It's interesting to know how long the males persist and whether they 
break off spontaneously.  What would happen if a correct female 
chrysalis was suddenly planted near one of the inappropriate couplings. 
Would the male be able to break off the relationship. If this persists 
you could actually do some experiments, but I suppose you can't tell in 
advance which chrysalid is going to be the female vs themale. 

I suppose you could simply remove all chyrsalids and induce the abnormal 
behavior and then replace several at a time (assuming that thesex ratio 
is more or less equal). 

Have fun. MIKE GOCHFELD


 
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