Models of clutch size in insect oviposition

Parker, G. A.; Courtney, Steven P.

doi:10.1016/0040-5809(84)90022-4

Cited by 206 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Some of the most important elements in insect repro ductive tactics relate to how many eggs are laid in a patch, how egg and cluster sizes are determined, and how patch quality is evaluated (e.g., Parker & Courtney, 1984;Godfray, 1987). Many aphidophagous coccinellids lay their eggs in clusters when aphid densities are high (Hodek & Honek, 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of female oviposition strategy on sibling cannibalism in the ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Osawa¹

2003

Eur. J. Entomol.

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Abstract. I hypothesized that sibling cannibalism is one of maternal investment in that a female controls sibling cannibalism. To test the hypothesis, I conducted a laboratory experiment and field observations to investigate sibling cannibalism in relation to cluster size and cluster site in the ladybird beetle, Harmonia axyridis Pallas. In the laboratory experiment, cluster size significantly affected the number of cannibalized eggs per cluster (R2 = 0.516), while cluster size was significantly affected by the oviposition interval. Furthermore, there was a marginally significant positive relationship between cluster size and the percentage of sibling cannibalism per cluster. In the field, cluster size and the direct distance from a cluster site to an aphid colony (an indicator of intensity of non sibling cannibalism) significantly affected the number of cannibalized eggs per cluster (R2 = 0.472). Furthermore, there was a sig nificant positive relationship between the direct distance from a cluster to the nearest aphid colony and cluster size. However, there was not a significant relationship between the distance and the percentage of sibling cannibalism. These results may be caused by the weakness of the female's power to control sibling cannibalism. Thus, a female H. axyridis controls cluster size through the intensity of non-sibling cannibalism, which may be one of oviposition strategies in this species.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of female oviposition strategy on sibling cannibalism in the ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Osawa¹

2003

Eur. J. Entomol.

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“…Under conditions of poor juvenile survivorship, large offspring may have a selective advantage over small offspring (McGinley et al 1987;Fox and Mousseau 1996;Fox et al 1997Fox et al , 2001. Many optimality models predict that females should expend more reproductive effort in oviposition sites of high quality compared to sites of low quality (e.g., Parker and Courtney 1984;Charnov and Skinner 1985). Among other traits, environmental differences in genetic (co)variances or genetic correlations have been detected (e.g., Via 1984;Service and Rose 1985;Scheiner et al 1989;Holloway et al 1990;Guntrip et al 1997;Lazarević et al 1998;Gu and Danthanarayana 2000;Bégin and Roff 2001), yet we lack research examining how evolutionary relationships among offspring size, number, and traits affecting total reproductive effort may differ among environments.…”

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confidence: 99%

Evolutionary Ecology of Egg Size and Number in a Seed Beetle: Genetic Trade-Off Differs Between Environments

2003

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Abstract. In many organisms, large offspring have improved fitness over small offspring, and thus their size is under strong selection. However, due to a trade-off between offspring size and number, females producing larger offspring necessarily must produce fewer unless the total amount of reproductive effort is unlimited. Because differential gene expression among environments may affect genetic covariances among traits, it is important to consider environmental effects on the genetic relationships among traits. We compared the genetic relationships among egg size, lifetime fecundity, and female adult body mass (a trait linked to reproductive effort) in the seed beetle, Stator limbatus, between two environments (host-plant species Acacia greggii and Cercidium floridum). Genetic correlations among these traits were estimated through half-sib analysis, followed with artificial selection on egg size to observe the correlated responses of lifetime fecundity and female body mass. We found that the magnitude of the genetic trade-off between egg size and lifetime fecundity differed between environments-a strong trade-off was estimated when females laid eggs on C. floridum seeds, yet this trade-off was weak when females laid eggs on A. greggii seeds. Also differing between environments was the genetic correlation between egg size and female body mass-these traits were positively genetically correlated for egg size on A. greggii seeds, yet uncorrelated on C. floridum seeds. On A. greggii seeds, the evolution of egg size and traits linked to reproductive effort (such as female body mass) are not independent from each other as commonly assumed in life-history theory. Offspring size at birth, hatching, or germination is often under strong selection; large offspring frequently mature earlier, have improved ability to avoid or withstand predation or competition, or survive better in stressful environments compared to small offspring (e.g., low quality host plants; Fox et al. 1997, reviewed in Roff 1992Carrière and Roff 1995;Azevedo et al. 1997;and Fox and Czesak 2000), although small offspring may have fitness advantages in some cases (e.g., hatch earlier; Fox 1997). Selection also generally favors high female fecundity, and it is generally assumed that the simultaneous evolution of large offspring and high fecundity is constrained by a trade-off between these two traits (e.g., Smith and Fretwell 1974;Parker and Begon 1986;McGinley et al. 1987;Winkler and Wallin 1987). Many studies have demonstrated a phenotypic correlation between offspring size and number (e.g., Sinervo and Licht 1991;Vaughton and Ramsey 1998), but few studies have examined their underlying genetic relationship (but see Lynch 1984Lynch , 1985Snyder 1991;Ebert 1993;Schwarzkopf et al. 1999).A trade-off between offspring size and number may be obscured if total reproductive effort varies substantially among females, either through variation in the amount of resource stores or variation in acquisition of resources from the environment (van Noordwijk and de J...

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“…Alors que les pontes multiples ont longtemps été considérées comme un comportement inadapté (Holloway 1984;Povey et Sibly 1992;Smith et Lessells 1985), ce n'est que récemment que la valeur adaptative de ce comportement a été reconnue (Parker et Courtney 1984;van Alphen et Visser 1990). Selon ces auteurs, les pontes multiples sont favorisées lorsque les bénéfices en terme de «fitness» liés à l'addition d'un oeuf sont profitables uniquement à ce dernier oeuf.…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

Comportement de ponte et stratégie reproductive de Sitophilus zeamais [Coleoptera : Curculionidae]

Danho

Haubruge

2004

phyto

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Des couples vierges de Sitophilus zeamais ont été placés dans des boîtes de Pétri contenant 8, 16 ou 32 grains de maïs. Après 10 jours d’infestation, nous avons dénombré les oeufs pondus, le nombre de grains infestés et la fréquence de distribution des oeufs par grain. Les grains ont ensuite été laissés en incubation pendant 7 semaines avant d’observer l’émergence des adultes et déterminer leur poids moyen et le sexe-ratio. Les résultats de la distribution des oeufs sur les grains de maïs indiquent que la ponte se fait de manière agrégative. Il n’existe pas de différence au niveau du nombre moyen d’oeufs pondus dans chaque traitement (avec une moyenne de 43, 39 et 36 oeufs pour les densités de 32, 16 et 8 grains/Pétri respectivement). Par contre, en ce qui concerne l’émergence des adultes, le plus grand nombre d’individus provient des lots contenant le plus grand nombre de grains. Il existe également des différences significatives au niveau du poids moyen des adultes issus des lots exposés à 32 grains (3,6 mg) qui sont plus lourds que ceux issus des lots contenant 8 grains de maïs (3,4 mg). Par contre, le sexe-ratio des charançons émergés ne diffère pas d’un lot de grains à un autre, et ce, pour les trois traitements. L’importance quantitative des ressources alimentaires sur le comportement de ponte et la biologie des insectes à cycle de développement endogé et la possibilité de l’existence d’une stratégie reproductive sont discutées.Virgin male/female pairs of Sitophilus zeamais were placed in Petri dishes containing 8, 16 or 32 maize grains for 10 days. After this period, the adults were removed and records were made as follow: number of eggs laid, number of grains infested and frequency distribution of egg number per grain. The grains were kept for 7 weeks after which the emerged adults were sieved off and counted. The sex ratio and weight were determined. Results indicated that S. zeamais tends to cluster eggs on the grains. There was no significant difference between the number of eggs recorded in each treatment (with an average of 43, 39 and 36 eggs for the quantities of 32, 16 and 8 grains per dish respectively). However, more adults emerged from the high density treatment. Average weight of adults emerged from batches exposed to 32 grains (3.6 mg) was also significantly higher than that resulting from batches containing 8 grains (3.4 mg). Sex ratios of emerged adults did not differ among treatments. The impact of grain quantity on biology and oviposition, in internally feeding granivore insects and the possibility that there is an adaptive reproductive strategy are discussed

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Models of clutch size in insect oviposition

Cited by 206 publications

References 35 publications

The influence of female oviposition strategy on sibling cannibalism in the ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

The influence of female oviposition strategy on sibling cannibalism in the ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Evolutionary Ecology of Egg Size and Number in a Seed Beetle: Genetic Trade-Off Differs Between Environments

Comportement de ponte et stratégie reproductive de Sitophilus zeamais [Coleoptera : Curculionidae]

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