Multiple mating by both sexes is common among sexually reproducing an-imals. Small hive beetles (SHB),Aethina tumida, are parasites of bee nests endemic tosub-Saharan Africa and have become a widespread invasive species. Despite the consid-erable economic damages they can cause, their basic biology remains poorly understood.Here we show that male and female small hive beetles can mate multiple times, suggest-ing that costs for mating are low in this species. In an invasiveA. tumidapopulation in theUnited States, a combination of laboratory experiments for males and paternity analysiswith eight polymorphic DNA microsatellite markers for field-caught females were usedto estimate the number of mating by both sexes. The data show that females and males canmate multiple times—females mated with up to eight males, whereas males mated with atleast seven females. The results also showed thatA. tumidadisplayed a skewed paternity,although this was not consistent among the tested females. Thus, first or last male advan-tage seem to be unlikely inA. tumida. Our observations that individuals of both sexes ofA. tumidacan mate multiple times opens new research avenues for examining drivers ofmultiple mating and determining the role it may play in promoting biological invasions.
