Adaptive consequences and heritable basis of asynchronous hatching in<i>Nicrophorus vespilloides</i>

Smiseth, Per T.; Hwang, Wenbe; Steiger, Sandra; Müller, Josef K.

doi:10.1111/j.0030-1299.2008.16473.x

Cited by 20 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Since the results of our first experiment show that this can promote brood survival in the absence of parental care, we conclude that there has been adaptive change in this trait, over 22 generations of experimental evolution. The timing of egg-hatching is explained in part by the timing of egg-laying by the mother [26] and probably also by genes that control development time in the offspring [34]. We found no evidence that females achieve better synchrony in egg-hatching simply by laying larger clutches.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

“…This sequence of larval addition was designed to mimic the natural sequence of larval arrival at the carcass that can arise as a consequence of hatching asynchrony in N. vespilloides [26], and was consistent with the hatching spread of broods described in ref [27]. The synchronous and asynchronous treatments manipulated both hatching skew and hatching spread (see below for a detailed explanation of these terms).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hatching spread is defined as the time that elapsed between the hatching of the first and last larvae from a given clutch [26,27]. A shortened hatching spread means that larvae are more likely to interact with each other when gaining access to the carrion nest.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Adaptive evolution of synchronous egg-hatching in compensation for the loss of parental care

et al. 2018

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Interactions among siblings are finely balanced between rivalry and cooperation, but the factors that tip the balance towards cooperation are incompletely understood. Previous observations of insect species suggest that (i) sibling cooperation is more likely when siblings hatch at the same time, and (ii) this is more common when parents provide little to no care. In this paper, we tested these ideas experimentally with the burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides. Burying beetles convert the body of a small dead vertebrate into an edible nest for their larvae, and provision and guard their young after hatching. In our first experiment, we simulated synchronous or asynchronous hatching by adding larvae at different intervals to the carrion-breeding resource. We found that ‘synchronously’ hatched broods survived better than ‘asynchronously’ hatched broods, probably because ‘synchronous hatching’ generated larger teams of larvae, that together worked more effectively to penetrate the carrion nest and feed upon it. In our second experiment, we measured the synchronicity of hatching in experimental populations that had evolved for 22 generations without any post-hatching care, and control populations that had evolved in parallel with post-hatching care. We found that larvae were more likely to hatch earlier, and at the same time as their broodmates, in the experimental populations that evolved without post-hatching care. We suggest that synchronous hatching enables offspring to help each other when parents are not present to provide care. However, we also suggest that greater levels of cooperation among siblings cannot compensate fully for the loss of parental care.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Adaptive evolution of synchronous egg-hatching in compensation for the loss of parental care

et al. 2018

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“…To characterize the hatching pattern, I determined the hatching spread which is simply the time elapsed between the hatching of the first and the last larva from a clutch laid by a given female [31]. The quotient of hatching spread and clutch size gave me an estimate of egg-laying speed.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bigger mothers are better mothers: disentangling size-related prenatal and postnatal maternal effects

Steiger

2013

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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139

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Despite a vast literature on the factors controlling adult size, few studies have investigated how maternal size affects offspring size independent of direct genetic effects, thereby separating prenatal from postnatal influences. I used a novel experimental design that combined a cross-fostering approach with phenotypic manipulation of maternal body size that allowed me to disentangle prenatal and postnatal maternal effects. Using the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides as model organism, I found that a mother's body size affected egg size as well as the quality of postnatal maternal care, with larger mothers producing larger eggs and raising larger offspring than smaller females. However, with respect to the relative importance of prenatal and postnatal maternal effects on offspring growth, only the postnatal effects were important in determining offspring body size. Thus, prenatal effects can be offset by the quality of postnatal maternal care. This finding has implications for the coevolution of prenatal and postnatal maternal effects as they arise as a consequence of maternal body size. In general, my study provides evidence that there can be transgenerational phenotypic plasticity, with maternal size determining offspring size leading to a resemblance between mothers and their offspring above and beyond any direct genetic effects.

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“…The component of asynchronous hatching occurs in at least some subsocial insects in which parents provision their offspring (Nalepa 1988;Smiseth et al 2006Smiseth et al , 2008. However, there have been no reports of insects or other invertebrates showing the full suite of intrafamilial behaviours known in birds, i.e., parental provisioning for altricial young, asynchronous hatching and siblicide.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laboratory observation of siblicide with hatching asynchrony in an insect with parental provisioning

Ento

Araya

Kudo

2010

J Ethol

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We report laboratory observation of siblicide with hatching asynchrony in the passalid beetle Cylindrocaulus patalis. Parents construct a breeding gallery in rotten logs and show complex care of offspring, including provisioning. Clutch sizes are extremely small, and only a single offspring is raised in a colony in each breeding season. We introduced field-collected colonies into an artificial gallery and recorded the behaviour of colony members. Eggs hatched at 2-to 10-day intervals in each colony. Fatal fighting invariably occurred among the larvae soon after hatching of the junior larva, and a single larva, usually the senior one, survived.

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Adaptive consequences and heritable basis of asynchronous hatching inNicrophorus vespilloides

Cited by 20 publications

References 31 publications

Adaptive evolution of synchronous egg-hatching in compensation for the loss of parental care

Adaptive evolution of synchronous egg-hatching in compensation for the loss of parental care

Bigger mothers are better mothers: disentangling size-related prenatal and postnatal maternal effects

Laboratory observation of siblicide with hatching asynchrony in an insect with parental provisioning

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