Slow and fast development in two aphidophagous ladybirds on scarce and abundant prey supply

Abstract

Developmental rates are highly variable, both within and between genotypes and populations. But the rationale for two differential (slow and fast) developmental rates within same cohort under varying prey supply has yet not been explored. For this purpose, we investigated the effect of scarce and abundant prey supply on slow and fast development at 27°C in two aphidophagous ladybirds, Menochilus sexmaculatus (Fabricius) and Propylea dissecta (Mulsant) and its effect on their body mass and reproductive attributes. The ladybirds were provided with scarce and abundant supply of Aphis craccivora Koch under standardized abiotic conditions in the laboratory. A clear bimodal (two peaks, where the first peak represented the fast developing individuals and the second peak slow developing individuals) pattern of distribution for both prey supplies was obtained, which got skewed with change in prey supply. On abundant prey supply, more fast developing individuals (139 M. sexmaculatus and 123 P. dissecta) were found and less (46 M. sexmaculatus and 36 P. dissecta) on scarce prey supply. Slow developing individuals had female biased sex ratio, higher longevity and lower body mass. Fast developing females laid higher number of eggs with higher egg viability. Results of the study are indicative of occurrence and constancy of the slow and fast developing individuals in the egg batch.

Prey quantity affects development, survival and reproductive attributes of Coccinella transversalis Fabricius, 1781 under laboratory conditions

“…Omkar and Pervez (2003) also reported that the pre-oviposition period of female Propylea disecta increased with increase in the duration of prey deprivation. The finding agrees with the optimal foraging theory, which states that females desist from laying eggs in habitats that cannot support progeny survival (Kindlmann & Dixon 1993, Singh et al 2016.…”

“…The development of offspring is influenced by both the nutrient reserve in eggs and the food provided to them during development (Singh et al 2019(Singh et al , 2020. Prey deprivation severely affects the development and survival of ladybirds (Omkar & Pervez 2003, Singh et al 2016. It is believed that under prey scarce conditions, the energy resources are utilized to maximize the survival and reproduction (Legaspi & Legaspi 1998).…”

A Double-Track Pathway to Fast Strategy in Humans and Its Personality Correlates

“…According to this, tradeoffs that imply competing allocations between current versus future reproduction might respond to a universal logic and might ubiquitously conform a fast–slow continuum ( Figueredo et al, 2005 ; Del Giudice, 2020 ). In support of this, evidence of variation along a fast–slow axis within single species has been reported across resource gradients ( Singh et al, 2016 ; Tabak et al, 2018 ).…”

Predation rate and performance of three ladybirds against the green peach aphid Myzus persicae in sweet pepper

“…In this trial, 92% of S. interruptus larvae were able to complete development, approximately half of the H. variegata larvae reached adulthood, whereas only one out of 14 A. bipunctata managed to do so. Various fitness components, such as oviposition rate, longevity, or searching capacity might be seriously compromised when prey supply during larval development is limited (Singh et al., ). These results may be of interest from an applied point of view in terms of aphid biological control.…”

“…In that sense, the use of alternative ladybird species should be considered. Although counterintuitive, less voracious species could present a better options if they are capable of completing their development with fewer prey and thus establish in the crop (Singh et al., ). Such species could actually have potential to be used in a preventative aphid control strategy, thereby reducing the cost to the grower.…”