Temperature impacts how sugar resources alter reproductive investment in the European corn borer moth.

This article investigates how temperature and sugar resource availability interact to influence reproductive investment in the European corn borer moth (Ostrinia nubilalis), focusing on differences between E- and Z- pheromone strains that preferentially mate within their own strain. The study found that at ambient temperature (23 °C), sugar supplementation led to high reproductive investment regardless of mate preference, whereas at elevated temperature (28 °C), sugar presence resulted in greater egg-laying with preferred (within-strain) mates and reduced investment in less preferred (between-strain) mates. These findings suggest that elevated temperatures increase physiological demands, potentially diverting resources from reproduction to thermoregulation, thereby modulating sexual selection dynamics depending on resource availability. The results highlight the importance of considering multiple interacting environmental factors to predict reproductive outcomes and mating patterns under climate change, with implications for gene flow and hybridization among related populations.