Development and the effects of extended parenting in the cold‐breeding burying beetle <scp><i>Nicrophorus sayi</i></scp>

Benowitz, Kyle M.; Amukamara, Ashley U.; McKinney, Elizabeth C.; Moore, Allen J.

doi:10.1111/een.12670

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 46 publications

(51 reference statements)

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“…This finding has important implications by suggesting that the evolution of elaborate post-hatching parental care has allowed this species to extend its geographical range to areas with a colder climate than it otherwise would tolerate. A recent study on another species within the genus Nicrophorus, N. sayi, suggests the evolution of post-hatching parental care has allowed this species to shift its seasonal activity by breeding under cold conditions in early spring, potentially as a means to avoid competition for resources with its congeners (Benowitz et al 2019). Thus, although post-hatching parental care in this genus is thought to have evolved in response to inter-and intraspecific competition over carrion (Eggert and Müller 1997;Scott 1998), the generic buffering capacity of parental care may have allowed these species to expand their geographical range and/or seasonal activity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental care buffers against effects of ambient temperature on offspring performance in an insect

et al. 2019

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Understanding how animals respond to and cope with variation in ambient temperature is an important priority. The reason for this is that ambient temperature is a key component of the physical environment that influences offspring performance in a wide range of ectotherms and endotherms. Here, we investigate whether posthatching parental care provides a behavioral mechanism for buffering against the effects of ambient temperature on offspring in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. We used a 3 × 2 factorial design where we manipulated ambient temperature (15, 20, or 25 °C) and parental care (presence or absence of a female parent after hatching). We found that the effect of ambient temperature on offspring performance was conditional upon the presence or absence of a caring female. Fewer larvae survived in the absence than in the presence of a caring female at 15 °C while there was no difference in larval survival at 20 and 25 °C. Our results show that parental care buffers against some of the detrimental effects of variation in ambient temperature on offspring. We suggest that posthatching parental care may buffer against such effects by creating a more benign environment or by boosting offspring resilience toward stressors. Our results have important implications for our understanding of the evolution of parental care because they suggest that the evolution of parental care could allow species to expand their geographical range to colonize areas with harsher climatic conditions than they otherwise would tolerate.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental care buffers against effects of ambient temperature on offspring performance in an insect

et al. 2019

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“…N. sayi is univoltine (i.e. has one brood and generation per year) with substantially slower development at the same temperatures compared with N. orbicollis , which is multivoltine (Beninger, 1989; Benowitz et al, 2019; Scott, 1998) ( N. orbicollis females successfully reared up to three successive broods in the lab; Scott & Traniello, 1990). This association between cold adaptation, slow development, and univoltinism is also found in some other cold‐tolerant insects, as compared with closely related populations in warmer environments that exhibit faster development and multivoltine life histories (Stoks & De Block, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A test of the competitive ability–cold tolerance trade‐off hypothesis in seasonally breeding beetles

Wettlaufer

MacMillan

et al. 2022

Ecological Entomology

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1. Closely related species that use similar resources often differ in their seasonal patterns of activity, but the factors that limit their distributions across seasons are unknown for most species. One hypothesis to explain seasonal variation in the distributions of species involves a trade-off between competitive ability and cold tolerance, where tolerance to the cold compromises competitive ability in warmer (benign) temperatures, either at the level of the individual or population. We tested both individual-level and population-level mechanisms of this hypothesisin two co-occurring species of temperate burying beetles (Silphidae: Nicrophorus sayi, N. orbicollis) that differ in their seasonal patterns of activity.3. We measured cold tolerance, breeding activity as a function of temperature, and competitive ability as a function of temperature and season. 4. Consistent with our hypothesis, the mid-season N. orbicollis was less able to function at the cold temperatures that characterise early spring, when the early-season N. sayi is most active. The larger beetle, however, always won one-on-one competitive trials at warm temperatures, regardless of species, inconsistent with an individual-level tradeoff. N. orbicollis was usually larger and successful when competing for the same carrion later in the season, mostly because of its larger population size, consistent with a tradeoff between competitive ability, and cold tolerance acting at the population level. 5. Our findings suggest that cold temperatures limit the mid-season N. orbicollis from earlier spring emergence, while competitive pressure from the more abundant, larger N. orbicollis constrains the early-season N. sayi from remaining active through the summer.

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“…We collected the facultative species N. defodiens and N. tomentosus from Oneida County, WI (Werner & Raffa, ) in September 2016 and maintained them under the same conditions. We collected the obligate N. sayi from Oneida County and Vilas County, WI (Werner & Raffa, ) in May 2017 and maintained them at 15°C and a 16:8 light:dark cycle, as this is a species requiring colder temperatures to breed (Benowitz, Amukamara, McKinney, & Moore, ). All species were maintained as outbred populations in the laboratory, and all were in the laboratory for more than one generation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in mandible development and its relationship to dependence on parents across burying beetles

Benowitz

Sparks

McKinney

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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BackgroundIn species with parental care, there is striking variation in offspring dependence at birth, ranging from feeding independence to complete dependency on parents for nutrition. Frequently, highly dependent offspring further evolve reductions or alterations of morphological traits that would otherwise promote self‐sufficiency. Here, we examine evidence for morphological evolution associated with dependence in burying beetles (Nicrophorus spp.), in which dependence upon parents appears to have several independent origins. In many species, precocial first instar larvae can survive without parenting, but several altricial species die at this stage on their own. We focused specifically on the mandibles, which are expected to be related to feeding ability and therefore independence from parents.ResultsWe find no evidence that the size of the mandible is related to dependence on parents. However, we do find a developmental and phylogenetic correlation between independence and the presence of serrations on the inner edge of the mandible. Mandibles of independent species bear serrations at hatching, whereas dependent species hatch with smooth mandibles, only developing serrations in the second instar when these larvae gain the ability to survive on their own. Phylogenetic evidence suggests that serrations coincide with independence repeatedly. We note a single exception to this trend, a beetle with a serrated mandible that cannot survive without parents. However, this exception occurs in a species that has recently evolved the loss of independence.ConclusionsWe argue that the absence of mandible serrations occurs due to alternative selection pressures incurred in larvae dependent upon parents to survive. We suggest that this may have led to a variable function for mandibles, perhaps related to increased competitive ability among siblings or increased efficiency in receiving nutrition from parents. Furthermore, we propose that the phylogenetic pattern we see is consistent with the long‐held evolutionary hypothesis that evolutionary change in behavior and physiology precede morphological change.

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Development and the effects of extended parenting in the cold‐breeding burying beetle Nicrophorus sayi

Abstract: This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as

Cited by 7 publications

References 46 publications

Parental care buffers against effects of ambient temperature on offspring performance in an insect

Parental care buffers against effects of ambient temperature on offspring performance in an insect

A test of the competitive ability–cold tolerance trade‐off hypothesis in seasonally breeding beetles

Variation in mandible development and its relationship to dependence on parents across burying beetles

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