Female tobacco budworm moths (Heliothis virescens) mate multiply with different males. However, one male gains sperm precedence, siring most or all of the eggs. To investigate the mechanism of sperm precedence, we determined offspring paternity and the pattern of sperm storage within female moths. Offspring paternity and sperm identity were established using restriction analysis of a PCR-amplified intron of the triosephospate isomerase (TPI) gene. Sequence polymorphism in this intron alters a restriction site for BsmA I. Experimental females were mated to two males that differed in their TPI genotypes, and the paternity of the offspring was determined by PCR and restriction analysis. In addition, the identity of sperm in the distal and proximal portions of the stored sperm mass was determined. We are currently gathering data to reveal patterns of sperm storage and offspring paternity, and these data should allow us to distinguish among hypothetical models of the mechanism of sperm use in this species.
Species 1: Lepidoptera Noctuidae Heliothis virescens (tobacco budworm)
Keywords: sperm competition, sperm storage
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