Factors affecting the distribution of copulatory plugs in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) on Cayo Santiago

Mate-guarding success depends on male investment in a butterfly

Males of many insects, including butterflies, produce mate-guarding devices, such as mating plugs, to prolong guarding and prevent future female matings in the male's absence. In a few butterflies, large external mate-guarding devices, that is, sphragides, occur. Gór et al. (Behaviour, 160, 2023 and 515-557) found conspicuously large size and morphological variation of mate-guarding devices within a single population of the potentially polyandrous Clouded Apollo (Parnassius mnemosyne, L.) butterfly. They termed the externally visible male-produced devices as Copulatory opening APpendices (CAP) consisting of small devices, termed small CAPs and the much larger shield (i.e. sphragis). Our aim was to reveal CAP replacement dynamics within females during their lifetime and to understand how male investment into small CAPs or shields was (i) related to CAP persistence on the female, that is securing paternity, (ii) associated with female quality, measured as size and (iii) with actual adult sex ratio. We investigated a univoltine Clouded Apollo population to estimate CAP replacement risks, using multistate survival models, in an extensive observational study through 6 years based on mark-recapture. Shields were the most frequent mate-guarding devices and were more persistent than small CAPs, often lasting for life, excluding future matings. Thus, most females bearing a shield were deprived of postcopulatory female choice, and the genetic variance in their offspring could be reduced compared to those bearing small CAPs, thus mating more often. The ratio of shields to all CAPs gradually decreased towards the end of the flight period. Males were more prone to produce a shield when mating females with wider thoraces and when the ratio of males (i.e. competition) was higher in the population. To our best knowledge, this is the first quantitative study to investigate potential factors on which male investment in mate-guarding devices may depend, and how the variation in these devices impacts CAP persistence on females.

In Vitro Culture of Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta) Embryos

Production of nonhuman primate (NHP) embryos in vitro begins with recovery of gametes. Females undergo a controlled ovary stimulation to produce multiple preovulatory follicles from which oocytes may be recovered. Mature ova are subjected to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and presumptive zygotes are cultured to the intended stage of development. Essential to this practice is the culture medium unique to each step in the process. Here we describe medium preparation, oocyte recovery, in vitro fertilization, and in vitro culture (IVC) of embryos in the rhesus macaque model.