We often associate butterflies with romance, but the complicated relationships butterflies have with each other may surprise you. During mating, Green-Veined White Butterfly (Pieris napi) males give a packet of nutrients to the female along with their sperm
We often associate butterflies with romance, but the complicated relationships butterflies have with each other may surprise you. During mating, Green-Veined White Butterfly (Pieris napi) males give a packet of nutrients to the female along with their sperm. This gift is called a spermataphore. This spermataphore takes a lot of energy to make, averaging about 15% of the male’s body mass for their first mating. The gift of nutrients helps the female nourish her eggs. For females, this means that mating with the highest number of virgin males possible may be the best strategy, and they do prefer to be polyan