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

Steiger, Sandra

doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.1225

Cited by 98 publications

(153 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…We scanned the breeding boxes every hour using Vuescan professional edition software (Hamrick Software, Sunny Isles Beach, FL, USA) 170 until the eggs hatched. In accordance with previous studies, we defined a clutch as comprised of all eggs laid before the first larva hatched (Müller, 1987;Steiger, 2013).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asynchronous hatching in a nonavian species: a test of the hurry-up hypothesis

Ford

Smiseth

2017

Behavioral Ecology

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Running title: Hurry-up hypothesis 10 2 The hurry-up hypothesis suggests that completing reproduction as soon as possible is favoured when the quantity or quality of resources used for breeding declines over time.However, completing reproduction sooner may incur a cost if it leads to an asynchronous hatching pattern that reduces overall growth and survival of offspring.Here, we present the first test of the hurry-up hypothesis in a non-avian system, the 15 burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides, which breeds on small vertebrate carcasses.To this end, we conducted two experiments in which we provided females with an incentive to complete reproduction sooner by giving them carcasses that varied either with respect to decomposition (decomposed or fresh) or size. We recorded the delay until laying, and measures of the laying pattern and fitness consequences for the 20 offspring. As predicted, we found that larvae dispersed from the carcass earlier when females commenced oviposition sooner and that laying spread was greater when females commenced egg laying earlier. However, we found no evidence that females commenced egg laying earlier on either decomposed or larger carcasses. Our results suggest that, although asynchronous hatching might emerge as a by-product of 25 parents attempting to complete reproduction sooner, there is no evidence that females attempt to complete reproduction sooner under conditions where this would be favourable. Our results are therefore inconsistent with the hurry-up hypothesis.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asynchronous hatching in a nonavian species: a test of the hurry-up hypothesis

Ford

Smiseth

2017

Behavioral Ecology

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“…As soon as the developing larvae reached their third instar, the mass of each larva within a brood was measured three times a day. Of each brood, some larvae were removed once they had achieved a mass of 70-120 mg (treatment group 'small') and transferred to a new container for pupation [37]. The remaining larvae were left with their parents and the carcass until the carrion was entirely consumed or the larvae left the carcass for pupation on their own (treatment group 'large').…”

Section: (Iv) Effect Of Body Size/nutritional Condition During Develomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We manipulated the nutritional environment of the developing larvae which ultimately has an effect on adult body size [37]. Pairs of beetles were provided with a 20 g carcass (Mäu-Ra Farm, Radensleben, Germany) to initiate breeding.…”

Section: (Iv) Effect Of Body Size/nutritional Condition During Develomentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond species recognition: somatic state affects long-distance sex pheromone communication

Chemnitz¹,

Jentschke²,

Ayasse³

et al. 2015

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Long-range sex pheromones have been subjected to substantial research with a particular focus on their biosynthesis, peripheral perception, central processing and the resulting orientation behaviour of perceivers. Fundamental to the research on sex attractants was the assumption that they primarily coordinate species recognition. However, especially when they are produced by the less limiting sex (usually males), the evolution of heightened condition dependence might be expected and long-range sex pheromones might, therefore, also inform about a signaller's quality. Here we provide, to our knowledge, the first comprehensive study of the role of a male's long-range pheromone in mate choice that combines chemical analyses, video observations and field experiments with a multifactorial manipulation of males' condition. We show that the emission of the long-distance sex pheromone of the burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides is highly condition-dependent and reliably reflects nutritional state, age, body size and parasite load-key components of an individual's somatic state. Both, the quantity and ratio of the pheromone components were affected but the time invested in pheromone emission was largely unaffected by a male's condition. Moreover, the variation in pheromone emission caused by the variation in condition had a strong effect on the attractiveness of males in the field, with males in better nutritional condition, of older age, larger body size and bearing less parasites being more attractive. That a single pheromone is influenced by so many aspects of the somatic state and causes such variation in a male's attractiveness under field conditions was hitherto unknown and highlights the need to integrate indicator models of sexual selection into pheromone research.

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“…We have also shown that inbreeding depression in the offspring is less severe when the mother is present than when she is removed [12]. Given that small females provide less post-hatching care than large females [16,17], we hypothesized that inbred offspring would suffer a greater reduction in fitness (compared with outbred offspring) if they had a small mother than if they had a large mother. To test this hypothesis, we used a 2 Â 2 factorial design with the following treatment groups: (i) a large female with outbred offspring, (ii) a small female with outbred offspring, (iii) a large female with inbred offspring, and (iv) a small female with inbred offspring.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it is still unknown whether such a buffering effect depends on the mother's phenotype. Maternal condition may affect the quantity or quality of care provided to the offspring [13][14][15][16][17], so we might expect the severity of inbreeding depression to be influenced by maternal traits such as body size, age, & 2016 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal effects alter the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring

Pilakouta

Smiseth

2016

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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A maternal effect is a causal influence of the maternal phenotype on the offspring phenotype over and above any direct effects of genes. There is abundant evidence that maternal effects can have a major impact on offspring fitness. Yet, no previous study has investigated the potential role of maternal effects in influencing the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring. Inbreeding depression is a reduction in the fitness of inbred offspring relative to outbred offspring. Here, we tested whether maternal effects due to body size alter the magnitude of inbreeding depression in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. We found that inbreeding depression in larval survival was more severe for offspring of large females than offspring of small females. This might be due to differences in how small and large females invest in an inbred brood because of their different prospects for future breeding opportunities. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence for a causal effect of the maternal phenotype on the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring. In natural populations that are subject to inbreeding, maternal effects may drive variation in inbreeding depression and therefore contribute to variation in the strength and direction of selection for inbreeding avoidance.

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

Cited by 98 publications

References 62 publications

Asynchronous hatching in a nonavian species: a test of the hurry-up hypothesis

Asynchronous hatching in a nonavian species: a test of the hurry-up hypothesis

Beyond species recognition: somatic state affects long-distance sex pheromone communication

Maternal effects alter the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring

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