Flight muscle changes in male pine engraver beetles during reproduction: the effects of body size, mating status and breeding failure

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Abstract. In a pattern that is typical for bark beetles, the lateralis medius flight muscle of male pine engravers, Ips pini Say (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), was found to decrease four‐fold in volume (from mean ± SE = 1.36 ± 0.06 × 10−2 mm3 to 0.34 ± 0.06 × 10−2 mm3) within five days of the initiation of breeding galleries, and then to regenerate gradually to functional capacity during subsequent weeks. Although there was considerable variation in the timing and extent of flight muscle regeneration in males, this variation was not a consequence of differences between small (length < 4.0 mm) and large (length ≥ 4.0 mm) males. Two subsequent experiments revealed that male pine engravers can control the timing of flight muscle regeneration. In the first experiment, the flight muscles of males that were denied mates degenerated within 5 days of gallery initiation, but then showed complete regeneration 5 days later. In the second experiment, mated males that were removed from their breeding galleries (to simulate breeding failure) also showed extensive muscle degeneration 5 days after gallery initiation, but then regenerated their flight muscles to functional capacity by the tenth day. The ability of males to regenerate their flight muscles in response to conditions at the gallery is probably adaptive because it allows them to fly in search of new breeding opportunities when they are unable to attract mates or when breeding attempts fail.