The rarer the male butterfly, the more female butterflies crave

The bacteria that kill male butterflies actually increase the flowering of female butterflies. That is the result of the study of butterfly species Hypolimnas bolina that live popularly in the Pacific and Southeast Asia.

The team found that when the bacteria caused the male butterfly population to decline, the butterflies became more affectionate to increase their chances of conceiving. Research has shown the strong effect of bacteria on the reproductive system of butterflies.

In some tropical butterflies, Wolbachia is transferred from mother to male and destroys the embryo before it expands. This species works very well, causing some islands to have only one male per 100 female butterflies.

Theoretically, the increase in females may increase the chances of mating for males and reduce the number of close females, as the guys are increasingly rare.

"But contrary to the conjecture, we found that females were more positively involved when the number of males declined," said Dr. Sylvain Charlat at the University of London, UK . "The number of male partners outweighs males. They start creating smaller sperm packets."

Hypolimnas bolina Butterfly. (Photo: BBC)

The children instinctively find that their chances of getting pregnant are decreasing compared to normal levels . " That makes them even more crazy ," added Dr. Charlet. This will continue until the number of males becomes rare and leads to an increase in the number of virgin butterflies in the population.

The group began the study after discovering old documents from 1920 talking about the phenomenon of dead male butterflies leading to the proportion of butterfly imbalances on islands. But the work is still unfinished there.

Dr Greg Hurst, senior author of the study, said: "When male butterflies become scarce, females are even more violent, although finding partners has become more difficult. ".

While most female moths only mate 1-2 times in their lives, the group found butterflies on these islands three to five times. "Surprisingly, butterflies can survive at a rate of 50 females per male."

While the bacteria that kill males are found in many insects, scientists still do not know what the effect of bacteria on the sexual habits of these butterflies is.

MT