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Photo#415678
Mama Prionus - Prionus laticollis - female

Mama Prionus - Prionus laticollis - Female
East Greenwich, Kent County, Rhode Island, USA
June 23, 2010
Size: 40mm plus ovipositor
This photo is from roughly 2 minutes after emergence.

I was weeding my garden & was fortunate enough to see this female emerge out of the hole at the bottom of the picture. I got my camera from the house & started shooting about two minutes later at 7:01pm. She pulsed her ovipositor in this posture (releasing pheromones?) for some time while I took pictures and then a male flew down after about 15 minutes. He was off target by about two feet so bumbled around in the garden a bit. Then he took flight again & landed right on top of her. They mated for all of a minute and she started laying eggs while it was going on. He took off and the whole affair ended at 7:21pm. She layed a few more eggs and took off under some plants at 7:23pm, where she will probably become food for the hoards of chipmunks that live in my yard. From emergence to fertilization and egg laying took all of 25 minutes. Sadly, all the mating pictures came out blurry.

basic reproductive biology question
If I saw this female beetle I would assume her distended abdomen was an indication she was gravid. Do beetles become gravid with unfertilized eggs and then mate to fertilize them?

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