The Dipterocarpaceae in SE Asia is known for its unique reproductive event called general flowering, which occurs supra-annually and involves many species. Huge amount of seeds produced in the event is thought to satiate seed predators and lower the intensity of seed predation. During the event, however, species are known to stagger their flowering peaks by a few weeks, while mature seed dispersal occurs almost at the same time. Since the flowering sequence is static, the intensity of pre-dispersal seed predation may be different between early and late flowering species, depending on the responds of seed predators. Therefore, I examine how seed predatory insects respond to the flowering in sequence, and which is better for avoiding seed predation, early or late flowering?

In both two general flowering events examined, abundance of seed predator obtained from seeds was higher in late flowering species than in early flowering species. The proportion of seed predation, however, was lower in late flowering species, which produces smaller seeds in larger amount. These results suggest that early flowering species gains by flowering when seed predators are less active, while late flowering species mitigate the intensity of seed predation by producing larger number of seeds.