| Summary: | White pine weevil is one of the most destructive and economically important forest
pests in British Columbia because it causes damage to natural forest and plantation. The
mating system, which is essential information for assessing possibility of sterile insect
release programs and determining genetic diversity of insect populations, was studied from
breeding experiments with varying number of females and males. Four polymorphic
microsatellite markers were used for the mating system analysis. All microsatellite loci
segregated in a Mendenlian fashion. The results of 1 Female: 2 Males mating showed that
sperm precedence occurs in 82% of the studied replications. The 1 Female: 4 Males mating
revealed not only mixed paternity, but supported the occurrences of sperm precedence as
well. In this experiment, female weevils mated to four different males had a mean paternity
of 2.8. The existences of sperm mixing were observed in both 1 Female: 2 Males and
1 Female: 4 Males matings. In addition, the possibility of sperm depletion was also observed
in both of the 2 Females: 1 Male and 4 Females: 1 Male matings. The evidences of sperm
precedence and multiple paternity will influence the style of "the Integrated Pest
Management". Sperm precedence has important implications on the ability of sterile insect
techniques. Also, the incidence of multiple paternity seems likely to affect the long-term
outcome of tree breeding program via the adaptation of white pine weevils to overcome
resistant trees. === Forestry, Faculty of === Graduate
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