Abstract
1 Protandry, the earlier emergence of males relative to females, can be an optimal mating strategy in both sexes and should occur most strongly under male polygyny and female monogamy. Depending on life history and phenology, the importance of maintaining protandry may differ between the sexes and different generations. 2 To assess which sex accomplished protandry in the overwintering generation of the polyandrous butterfly Pieris napi L, we estimated for male and female pupae: (1) proportion that remained in diapause after 2-8 months at 40C; (2) postdiapause development time at 17, 20 and 230C after 4-8 months at 40C; and (3) daily weight loss (which is indicative of development rate). 3 Diapause was terminated after 4-6 months at 4 C and was broken somewhat earlier in male than in female pupae. Male postdiapause pupae developed on average 1 44 days faster than females and development time decreased with increasing chilling period in both sexes. Daily weight loss of postdiapause pupae started at a higher level and increased more rapidly in male than in female pupae. Hence, postdiapause development in P. napi exhibited phenotypic plasticity and protandry appeared to be maintained by both sexes. Key-words: Protandry, Pieris napi, postdiapause development
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