page_title: Mediterranean flour moth
section_title: Mating
hierarchical_section_title: Mediterranean flour moth / Mating
caption_attribution_description: Norsk bokmål: Melsmalmott Ephestia kuehniella kan være vanskelig å bli kvitt innendørs når stadig nye generasjoner forpupper seg i småsprekker og legger egg i matvarer.Template:Byline English: Mediterranean Flour Moth Ephestia kuehniella mating, a grain- or flour-feeding pest.Template:Byline
context_page_description: The Mediterranean flour moth or mill moth is a moth of the family Pyralidae. It is a common pest of cereal grains, especially flour. This moth is found throughout the world, especially in countries with temperate climates. It prefers warm temperatures for more rapid development, but it can survive a wide range of temperatures.
  The Mediterranean flour moth is frequently found in warm places with stored grain products, such as flour mills and bakeries, where it can breed year round. Flour mills have a particular problem with the Mediterranean flour moth because the caterpillars spin silk that clogs machinery. The most effective pest control strategy for this moth is sanitation of facilities and sealing grain containers to prevent infestation, but some pesticides may also be used.
context_section_description: The maturation of both male and female reproductive systems occurs soon after emergence. Adult moths commonly mate on the day of emergence, which maximizes the reproductive success of females. Female calling and male courtship behaviors peak just prior to peak mating—these behaviors are useful in successful mating. The Mediterranean flour moth is a protogynous species, so females emerge significantly earlier than males. This mechanism may be used to reduce inbreeding, as females will emerge and mate with other males prior to their brothers emerging. The optimal mating time for females is on the same day they emerge, because fertility decreases when mating occurs later. Females release pheromones as a type of calling behavior to demonstrate to males when they are most fertile.
  In a study of the effects of food shortage and larval crowding on male reproductive phenotype, it was found that males who emerged as adults from the population with the most crowding had smaller forewings, thorax, and head, as well as a lower body mass. It is worth noting, however, that these smaller males had larger forewings relative to their body mass. It is suggested that this may be beneficial in terms of mate searching at higher densities by promoting their dispersal.
  It was also found that while mating frequency did not seem to be affected by larval density, those from higher densities had a shorter adult lifespan and produced fewer eupyrene sperm. In order to increase their reproductive success at higher densities, and thus at higher levels of sperm competition, males maintain apyrene sperm production and mate more at a higher frequency.
  E. kuehniella is a polyandrous species.
caption: Mating
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