Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Lifetime Fecundity (lifetime + fecundity)
Selected AbstractsMaternal size and age affect offspring sex ratio in the solitary egg parasitoid Anaphes nitensENTOMOLOGIA EXPERIMENTALIS ET APPLICATA, Issue 1 2007Serena Santolamazza-Carbone Abstract In this study, the effects of maternal age, diet, and size on offspring sex ratio were investigated for the solitary egg parasitoid, Anaphes nitens Girault (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), both outdoors, during the winter, and inside a climatic chamber under favourable constant conditions. During the winter of 2005,2006, each of seven groups containing 40 1-day-old females was mated and randomly distributed among two treatments: (treatment 1) a droplet of undiluted honey ad libitum + one fresh egg capsule of the snout beetle Gonipterus scutellatus Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) as host; (treatment 2) drops of water + one fresh egg capsule of G. scutellatus. We recorded the lifetime fecundity, the daily sex allocation, and the lifetime offspring sex ratio to study the existence of a relationship with maternal characteristics. Moreover, we assessed the effect of location (outdoors vs. indoors) and group (groups are representative of early, mid, and late winter) on sex ratio. The most important factor that biased the sex ratio was maternal body size: larger females of both treatments produced more female offspring. As females of A. nitens could gain more advantage than males from body size, larger mothers have a higher fitness return if they produce more daughters. The effect of the treatment was significant: starved females produced more females. Location and group were not significant. Fecundity and sex ratio were age dependent. Old mothers that received honey (treatment 1) had fewer offspring and a more male-biased offspring sex ratio, probably due to reproductive senescence and sperm depletion. Starved females (treatment 2) experienced reproductive decline earlier, perhaps because they invested more energy in maintenance rather than in reproduction. [source] Test of a developmental trade-off in a polyphenic butterfly: direct development favours reproductive outputFUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2008Bengt Karlsson Summary 1Evolutionary theory predicts that resource allocation decisions taken during development are adjusted to an organism's life-history. These decisions may have irreversible effects on body design and strong fitness consequences. Holometabolous insects that have a long expected life span typically postpone reproduction, and so are expected to allocate resources for somatic maintenance prior to investing in reproduction. In contrast, insects that have a short expected life span are expected to allocate relatively less to soma and more to reproduction. In support of this theory, an earlier investigation of resources allocated to soma vs. reproductive reserves in the comma butterfly, Polygonia c-album, revealed that short-lived females indeed allocate more resources to reproductive reserves as compared to longer lived females that hibernate before reproduction suggesting that short-lived females should have higher fecundity. 2Here we test this prediction, using the comma butterfly as our study organism. Depending on daylength and temperature this butterfly produces one of two morphs: (i) a light summer morph that reproduces directly after adult eclosion and has a short expected life span of a couple of weeks; or (ii) a darker winter morph that normally lives for 8,9 months before the onset of reproduction. Our test is based on experimental manipulation that allowed us to induce reproduction without prior hibernation in winter morph comma butterflies, and comparing lifetime fecundity among three groups: (i) directly reproducing summer morph commas; (ii) directly reproducing winter morph commas; and (iii) winter morph commas reproducing after overwintering. This protocol allowed us to tease apart trade-offs during development and the hibernation period. 3The results showed that the short-lived summer morph had a substantially higher fecundity (total number of eggs = 586 ± 19, mean ± SE) than the winter morph females manipulated to reproduce without hibernation (total number of eggs = 334 ± 42). We argue that this is a consequence of a resource allocation trade-off during early development observed in this species; females with a short expected life as adults allocate relatively more of their resources to reproductive parts and thereby reach a higher reproductive output compared to females predisposed for a long adult life. 4There was no significant difference in lifetime fecundity between winter morph females that did, or did not, hibernate before reproduction. This suggests that the cost of hibernation per se is small and hence corroborates our conclusion that the life-history implemented trade-off made during early development underlies the lower reproductive output of the winter morph butterflies. [source] Butterfly life history and temperature adaptations; dry open habitats select for increased fecundity and longevityJOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2005BENGT KARLSSON Summary 1Evidence suggests that changes of temperature-related performance curves can trigger a selective response in life-history traits. Hence, it should be expected that insects adapted to different temperature regimes should exhibit optimal performance at the temperature to which they are adapted. 2To test this idea we investigated how fecundity and longevity are influenced by ambient temperatures in a set of satyrine butterflies adapted to live in dry open landscapes or in closed forest landscapes, respectively, by keeping egg-laying adult females at five different constant temperatures ranging between 20 and 40 °C. 3We studied four species, two of which are confined to dry and hot open habitats, namely the grayling (Hipparchia semele) and the small heath (Coenonympha pamphilus), and two of which are shade dwelling, namely the ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) and the speckled wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria). 4As predicted, the results showed that lifetime fecundity exhibited bell-shaped curves in relation to temperature with the open landscape group peaking at a higher temperature, 30 °C, compared with the shade-dwelling group that peaked at 25 °C. Longevity decreased with increasing temperatures among all species, but the open landscape living species survived better at higher temperatures. Moreover, although the magnitude of reproductive effort measured as lifetime egg mass did not differ between the two ecological groups, lifetime fecundity did with open landscape species laying more and smaller eggs than the shade-dwelling species. 5This difference in life-history character traits suggests either that dry and relatively warm open habitats open life-history opportunities in terms of higher fecundity and longevity that remain closed to butterflies adapted to cooler temperatures, or that life in dry open habitats actively selects for higher fecundity and survival as a result of increased offspring mortality. [source] Factors influencing the evolution of clutch size in a gregarious insect parasitoidJOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY, Issue 6 2000Tania Zaviezo Summary 1.,In this study we examined the clutch size of Hyssopus pallidus (Askew) (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae), a gregarious ectoparasitoid of codling moth (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) larvae that is characterized by a host handling time of 2 days approximately. 2.,Clutch size increased asymptotically with host larval size (fresh weight) to a maximum of 32 eggs. A single male developed from each clutch, brood survival was 83% and pupal size of female offspring was 0·45 mg, all independent of clutch size. 3.,A comparison of the response of both experienced and naïve adult parasitoids to varying host larval size, indicated that experience was not necessary for H. pallidus to be able to accurately estimate host size. 4.,Clutch size increased by 50% for medium size host larvae (30,40 mg) and 83% for large host larvae (60,76 mg) when the encounter rate was reduced from one host every second day to one every seventh day. A significantly lower clutch size was produced on the last day at the highest encounter rate for large host larvae, suggesting exhaustion of the egg supply for H. pallidus. 5.,Manipulation of parasitoid clutch size on constant size host larvae did not influence sex ratio (single male) or brood survival (93%), but produced a linear trade-off between clutch size and the size (fresh weight) of female pupae. Longevity, lifetime fecundity, total number of hosts attacked, and clutch size all increased linearly with the adult size (female pupal weight). 6.,The observed clutch size in newly emerged H. pallidus is consistent with a strategy of maximizing lifetime fitness gain rather than the gain from individual hosts (Lack clutch size) despite a significant investment in the time required to attack each host. [source] Are there interactive effects of mate availability and predation risk on life history and defence in a simultaneous hermaphrodite?JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2008J. R. AULD Abstract Encountering mates and avoiding predators are ubiquitous challenges faced by many organisms and they can affect the expression of many traits including growth, timing of maturity and resource allocation to reproduction. However, these two factors are commonly considered in isolation rather than simultaneously. We examined whether predation risk and mate availability interact to affect morphology and life-history traits (including lifetime fecundity) of a hermaphroditic snail (Physa acuta). We found that mate availability reduced juvenile growth rate and final size. Predator cues from crayfish induced delayed reproduction, but there were no reduced fecundity costs associated with predator induction. Although there were interactive effects on longevity, lifetime fecundity was determined by the number of reproductive days. Therefore, our results indicate a resource-allocation trade-off among growth, longevity and reproduction. Future consideration of this interaction will be important for understanding how resource-allocation plasticity affects the integration of defensive, life-history and mating-system traits. [source] Sexually antagonistic selection on primate sizeJOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2002P. Lindenfors Abstract Male intrasexual selection in haplorhine primates has previously been shown to increase male size and to a lesser degree also female size. I address the following questions: (1) why does female size increase when the selection is on males, and (2) why does female size not increase to the same extent as that of males. The potential for correlational selection on females through increased resource competition was analysed with independent contrasts analyses. No such effect was found, nor did matched pairs comparisons reveal females to increase in size because of selection to bear larger male offspring. Instead further matched pairs analyses revealed higher female postpartum investment, as indicated by a longer lactation period, in more sexually selected species, also after correcting for body weight. Concerning the second question, independent contrast analyses showed that large size has had negative effects on female reproductive rate across the primate order. Matched-pairs analyses on haplorhines revealed that females of species in more polygynous clades have lower reproductive rates than females of species in less polygynous clades. This is also true after the effects of body weight are removed. These results, both when correcting for body weight and when not, suggest that sexual selection has shifted female size from one favouring female lifetime fecundity to one favouring male success in competition. This depicts antagonistic selection pressures on female size and a trade-off for females between the ecologically optimal size of their foremothers and the larger size that made their forefathers successful. [source] Sex-specific transgenerational effects of early developmental conditions in a passerineBIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 3 2007CARLOS ALONSO-ALVAREZ Most studies dealing with the trade-off between offspring number and quality have overlooked the long-term consequences for the progeny. High investment in offspring number usually results in an increased competition among nest mates. The deterioration of the early developmental conditions, due to this increased competition, can impair individual quality over the long term, and subsequently affect survival and lifetime fecundity. Moreover, the consequences of the allocation rule to offspring number vs. quality can extend across generations and give raise to grandparental effects. These transgenerational trade-offs have been explored rarely. In the present study, we manipulated the breeding effort of captive zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) by offering them enlarged or reduced broods. Offspring reared under these conditions were allowed to breed freely in an outdoor aviary, during their entire lifespan. Second-generation fledglings whose mother was raised in enlarged broods were in lower body condition than offspring whose mother was raised in reduced broods. However, second-generation fledglings were not affected by the brood size experienced by the father. These results show that the solution of parental dilemma, whether producing a small number of high quality offspring or a large number of poor quality descendants, must take into account the long-term transgenerational effects acting on grandchildren. © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2007, 91, 469,474. [source] | ||||||||||