Male Peacocks and mating/copulation question.

[Testudo Man]

I wasnt sure which section of the forum to post this???

My question is - Are male Peacocks able to mate/copulate more than once in their life time?

Thanks in advance, cheers Paul.

[Testudo Man]

Anyone know????

Cheers Paul.

[Padfield]

For what it's worth, yes, I believe they can - but I was waiting for someone with more experience of breeding butterflies to confirm this.

Guy

[Testudo Man]

For what it's worth, yes, I believe they can - but I was waiting for someone with more experience of breeding butterflies to confirm this.

Guy

Thanks very much for that.
I assumed they could, but i wasnt sure myself. I tried searching/googling for more in-depth info on the Peacock, but couldnt really find much out there?! I dont suppose you know an online source/papers/data that could verify the mating/breeding capabilities of the male Peacock?

Im locked into a debate, with a guy who swears that the male Peacock is unlike any other butterfly, he says that the peacock can only mate the once, then deteriorates rapidly and dies!!!
I have the opinion that the male Peacock can mate more than once in his life time, and can still live for a fair time after the mating.

Cheers Paul.

[peterc]

Hi Paul,

Interesting question. I am inclined to agree with Guy that male Peacocks probably can mate and/or copulate more than once especially considering that Peacocks are long-lived. As usual with butterfly behaviour many factors come into play. I understand that the probability of a male of many species encountering a receptive female is slim and even more so if the male has recently mated. Once a male has mated, it may take several days for him to recover and produce sufficient 'nuptial gifts' in order to mate again.
Speculation but I am sure someone out there will come up with good answers.

ATB

Peter

[Testudo Man]

Hi Paul,

Interesting question. I am inclined to agree with Guy that male Peacocks probably can mate and/or copulate more than once especially considering that Peacocks are long-lived. As usual with butterfly behaviour many factors come into play. I understand that the probability of a male of many species encountering a receptive female is slim and even more so if the male has recently mated. Once a male has mated, it may take several days for him to recover and produce sufficient 'nuptial gifts' in order to mate again.
Speculation but I am sure someone out there will come up with good answers.

ATB

Peter

Thanks very much for your opinion Peter, and yes, its an interesting question for sure.
Since Im relatively new to observing Butterflies(approx 5 years now) i thought in order to have my question answered, what better place than here at UK Butterflies, where there is a wealth of experience/knowledge.
Hopefully, other members will step forward and offer their opinions too, although just how a question like mine can be answered?! unless some enthusiasts out there have monitored/observed the same male Peacock, mate/copulate with more than one female?!...Perhaps in a controlled environment??
Cheers Paul.

[Padfield]

When I can't find what I want on the internet I try searching in different languages and/or using scientific terms (to get scientific documents, and also because Latin names of butterflies, for example, are common to all languages).

I've just searched for 'Aglais io polygyny' and was directed to - you guessed it - Wikipedia. There, I read:

"In polygynous butterflies, the male’s reproductive success is largely dependent on life span. Therefore, the longer a male lives, the more he can reproduce, so he has a higher fitness. Therefore, males tend to live as long as the females. In A. io the synchronous eclosion at the end of winter causes males to only mate once. Their reproductive success is therefore not linked to how long they live, and there is no selective pressure to live longer. Therefore, the life span of males is shorter than the lifespan of the females".

So - according to big W, your friend is right.

Wikipedia's source is this:

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/ ... 3.full.pdf

I haven't had time to read this, but it seems to refer more particularly to polyandry and monandry (females having more than one male) rather than polygyny and monogyny. I'll save it to read later!

Anyway, this might give a few more pointers for your research.

Guy

[Testudo Man]

When I can't find what I want on the internet I try searching in different languages and/or using scientific terms (to get scientific documents, and also because Latin names of butterflies, for example, are common to all languages).

I've just searched for 'Aglais io polygyny' and was directed to - you guessed it - Wikipedia. There, I read:

"In polygynous butterflies, the male’s reproductive success is largely dependent on life span. Therefore, the longer a male lives, the more he can reproduce, so he has a higher fitness. Therefore, males tend to live as long as the females. In A. io the synchronous eclosion at the end of winter causes males to only mate once. Their reproductive success is therefore not linked to how long they live, and there is no selective pressure to live longer. Therefore, the life span of males is shorter than the lifespan of the females".

So - according to big W, your friend is right.

Wikipedia's source is this:

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/ ... 3.full.pdf

I haven't had time to read this, but it seems to refer more particularly to polyandry and monandry (females having more than one male) rather than polygyny and monogyny. I'll save it to read later!

Anyway, this might give a few more pointers for your research.

Guy

Thanks very much for that link Guy, that was an interesting read!

I knew someone out there would have carried out a controlled experiment for the Peacock Butterfly, in regards to mating/copulation/lifespan/hibernation etc. ....................and yes, it would appear that my "friend" is right after all!
Oh well, you live an learn...life is an education!

[Testudo Man]

Heres another interesting link

Cheers Paul.


http://link.springer.com/article/10.100 ... 2650050291

[peterc]

Some of us may now look for male Peacocks later in the spring. Although finding one may prove that males live as long as females but not necessarily whether they mate more than once if the selective pressure isn't there. Apart from the wing size difference which is not always reliable anyway in my opinion I believe the only way to distinguish between the sexes is the size and shape of the abdomen unless someone else knows better

ATB

Peter

[Testudo Man]

Some of us may now look for male Peacocks later in the spring. Although finding one may prove that males live as long as females but not necessarily whether they mate more than once if the selective pressure isn't there. Apart from the wing size difference which is not always reliable anyway in my opinion I believe the only way to distinguish between the sexes is the size and shape of the abdomen unless someone else knows better

ATB

Peter

Good idea Peter, i may well keep a closer eye on the Peacocks this Spring time too. Another thing to consider, is to try and sight/photograph Peacocks mating/in cop. It seems there isnt many images of Peacocks mating out there??? Are there any images on this forum of the mating/courting behaviour of the Peacock? or for that matter, any of the other hibernating species??
I cant seem to recall me having captured any photos of our hibernating species mating/in cop...and Ive took 1000's an 1000's of butterfly images in the last 5 years of me observing them.

Cheers Paul.

[David M]

It seems there isnt many images of Peacocks mating out there??? Are there any images on this forum of the mating/courting behaviour of the Peacock? or for that matter, any of the other hibernating species??
I cant seem to recall me having captured any photos of our hibernating species mating/in cop...and Ive took 1000's an 1000's of butterfly images in the last 5 years of me observing them.

Images of any of our common vanessids in cop would be highly noteworthy given how infrequently they are seen actually mating.

I've seen plenty of courtship over the years, but never once have I observed a pairing, and to my knowledge, Comma apart, there are no images on this site of couplings (unless someone proves me wrong).

[peterc]

Good luck in your quest, Paul

I understand that Small Tortoiseshells don't usually mate until late in the day perhaps in the evening which may account for lack of photos of a mating pair. I suspect Peacocks mate way out of sight on the ground under vegetation (nettles?) and possibly very late in the day too but only guessing.

ATB

Peter

[Testudo Man]

It seems there isnt many images of Peacocks mating out there??? Are there any images on this forum of the mating/courting behaviour of the Peacock? or for that matter, any of the other hibernating species??
I cant seem to recall me having captured any photos of our hibernating species mating/in cop...and Ive took 1000's an 1000's of butterfly images in the last 5 years of me observing them.

Images of any of our common vanessids in cop would be highly noteworthy given how infrequently they are seen actually mating.

I've seen plenty of courtship over the years, but never once have I observed a pairing, and to my knowledge, Comma apart, there are no images on this site of couplings (unless someone proves me wrong).

I like a challenge David but i doubt i have the spare time to observe my local woodland Peacocks etc. in order to sight/photograph our hibernating species mating/in cop. But you never know, i could get lucky

[Testudo Man]

Good luck in your quest, Paul

I understand that Small Tortoiseshells don't usually mate until late in the day perhaps in the evening which may account for lack of photos of a mating pair. I suspect Peacocks mate way out of sight on the ground under vegetation (nettles?) and possibly very late in the day too but only guessing.

ATB

Peter

Cheers Peter, I think you are right here, the chances of me sighting/photographing our hibernating species mating/in cop. are slim, so a large amount of luck is in order
Maybe i need to venture into the "woods" in the late afternoon? to stand a chance.
Back in 2014, i did observe 2 Peacocks high up in a tree, they were close/touching each other, so i assumed they were in courtship? I should have continued to observe this couple, but i moved on! I did capture 2 long distance images of them together, but nothing to suggest they were in cop.