scholarly journals Niche variation and the maintenance of variation in body size in a burying beetle

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
PAUL E. HOPWOOD ◽  
ALLEN J. MOORE ◽  
TOM TREGENZA ◽  
NICK J. ROYLE
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Niche Variation

scholarly journals Early‐life effects on body size in each sex interact to determine reproductive success in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (12) ◽  
pp. 1725-1734
Author(s):  
Eleanor K. Bladon ◽  
Sinead English ◽  
Sonia Pascoal ◽  
Rebecca M. Kilner
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides

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

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1766) ◽  
pp. 20131225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Steiger
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Maternal Effects ◽  
Maternal Care ◽  
Genetic Effects ◽  
Offspring Size ◽  
Adult Size ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Maternal Body ◽  
Maternal Size

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.

scholarly journals Superior stimulation of female fecundity by subordinate males provides a mechanism for telegony

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Pascoal ◽  
Benjamin J. M. Jarrett ◽  
Emma Evans ◽  
Rebecca M. Kilner
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Limited Resource ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Female Fecundity ◽  
Genetic Inheritance ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides ◽  
Evolutionary Consequences ◽  
Stimulation Of

SummaryWhen females mate promiscuously, sperm compete within females to fertilise the ova. In theory, a male can increase his success at siring offspring by inducing the female to lay more eggs, as well as by producing more competitive sperm. Here we report that the evolutionary consequences of fecundity stimulation extend beyond rival males, by experimentally uncovering effects on offspring. With experiments on the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides, we show that smaller subordinate males are better able to stimulate female fecundity than larger, dominant males. Furthermore dominant males also benefit from the greater fecundity induced by smaller males, and so gain from the female’s earlier promiscuity just as predicted by theory. By inducing females to produce more offspring on a limited resource, smaller males cause each larva to be smaller, even those they do not sire themselves. Fecundity stimulation thus promotes the non-genetic inheritance of offspring body size, and provides a mechanism for telegony.

Offspring beg more toward larger females in a burying beetle

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 1250-1256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Ratz ◽  
Sophie Stenson ◽  
Per T Smiseth
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Behavioral Mechanism ◽  
Simultaneous Choice ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides

Abstract Offspring of many animals beg for food from parents. Begging is often costly, and offspring should seek to reduce such costs to maximize their returns on begging. Whenever multiple adults provide care for a joint brood, as in species where multiple females breed communally, offspring should beg toward the parent that provisions the most food. Here, we investigate whether larvae spend more time begging toward larger females in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. Prior work on this species shows that larger females provision more food than smaller ones, suggesting that larvae would benefit by preferentially begging toward larger females. To test for such a preference, we provided experimental broods with a simultaneous choice between two dead females: a smaller and a larger one. Larvae spent more time begging toward larger females. We next examined the behavioral mechanism for why larvae begged more toward larger females. Larvae spent more time in close contact with larger females over smaller ones, whereas there was no evidence that larvae begged more when in close contact with larger females. Thus, larvae begged more toward the larger female simply as a consequence of spending more time close to larger females. Our findings have important implications for our understanding of parent–offspring communication by showing that offspring can choose between parents based on parental attributes, such as body size, reflecting how much food parents are likely to provision.

Niche variation in burying beetles (Nicrophorus spp.) associated with marine and terrestrial carrion

2007 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.D. Hocking ◽  
C.T. Darimont ◽  
K.S. Christie ◽  
T.E. Reimchen
Keyword(s):  
Pink Salmon ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Odocoileus Hemionus ◽  
Oncorhynchus Gorbuscha ◽  
Oncorhynchus Keta ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Catharus Ustulatus ◽  
Pink Salmon Oncorhynchus Gorbuscha ◽  
Niche Variation ◽  
Catharus Guttatus

Ecological opportunity can influence niche variation within and among species. Forensic reconstruction of diet has been made possible with the now widespread use of stable isotope analysis, although it has not to date been applied to communities based on carrion resources. Within a salmon-bearing watershed in coastal British Columbia, we reconstructed the dietary niches of two burying beetle species (Silphidae: Nicrophorus investigator Zetterstedt, 1824 and Nicrophorus defodiens Mannerheim, 1846) using stable isotopes (δ15N, δ13C). We separated available carrion sources for beetles of chum salmon ( Oncorhynchus keta (Walbaum, 1792)) and pink salmon ( Oncorhynchus gorbuscha (Walbaum, 1792)), the shrew Sorex monticolus Merriam, 1890, songbirds ( Troglodytes troglodytes (L., 1758), Catharus ustulatus (Nuttall, 1840), Catharus guttatus (Pallas, 1811)), and black-tailed deer ( Odocoileus hemionus hemionus (Rafinesque, 1817)) into three isotopically homogeneous subsets: (1) salmon, (2) shrews and songbirds, and (3) deer. The majority (86.5%) of N. investigator individuals were raised on a diet of salmon carrion, while 100% of N. defodiens individuals had a larval diet consistent with carrion from shrews and songbirds. Larger isotopic variance predicts wider dietary niches, which may be useful for testing functional ecological variation within and among species.

scholarly journals No evidence for increased fitness of offspring from multigenerational effects of parental size or natal carcass size in the burying beetle Nicrophorus marginatus

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0253885
Author(s):  
Ethan P. Damron ◽  
Ashlee N. Smith Momcilovitch ◽  
Dane Jo ◽  
Mark C. Belk
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Maternal Effects ◽  
Genetic Effects ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Lifetime Fitness ◽  
Offspring Fitness ◽  
Lifetime Number ◽  
Parental Phenotype ◽  
Multigenerational Effects ◽  
Nicrophorus Marginatus

Multigenerational effects (often called maternal effects) are components of the offspring phenotype that result from the parental phenotype and the parental environment as opposed to heritable genetic effects. Multigenerational effects are widespread in nature and are often studied because of their potentially important effects on offspring traits. Although multigenerational effects are commonly observed, few studies have addressed whether they affect offspring fitness. In this study we assess the effect of potential multigenerational effects of parental body size and natal carcass size on lifetime fitness in the burying beetle, Nicrophorus marginatus (Coleoptera; Silphidae). Lifespan, total number of offspring, and number of offspring in the first reproductive bout were not significantly related to parental body size or natal carcass size. However, current carcass size used for reproduction was a significant predictor for lifetime number of offspring and number of offspring in the first brood. We find no evidence that multigenerational effects from larger parents or larger natal carcasses contribute to increased fitness of offspring.

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