Interspecific variation in life history traits of Elasmostethus (Hemiptera: Acanthosomatidae)

2018 ◽  
Vol 151 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kudo ◽  
Aki Yamamoto ◽  
Tadao Ichita ◽  
Haruki Tatsuta
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Maternal Care ◽  
Female Body ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Interspecific Variation ◽  
Japanese Species ◽  
Comparative Analyses ◽  
The Family

AbstractLife history traits, such as clutch size, egg size (weight), developmental periods of eggs, and female body (abdomen) size, were investigated in Japanese species of the genus Elasmostethus Fieber (Hemiptera: Acanthosomatidae): E. amabilis Yamamoto, E. brevis Lindberg, E. humeralis Jakovlev, E. interstinctus (Linnaeus), E. kerzhneri Yamamoto, and E. nubilus (Dallas). With the exception of clutch size, significant differences were observed in the traits among species. No species exhibited maternal care of eggs. These data form a solid basis for future comparative analyses in the family Acanthosomatidae, which contains both subsocial and asocial species.

scholarly journals Quality versus quantity: The balance between egg and clutch size among Australian amphibians is related to life history and environmental conditions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Gould ◽  
Chad Beranek ◽  
Jose Valdez ◽  
Michael Mahony
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Female Body ◽  
Inverse Relationship ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Breeding Habitat ◽  
Female Body Size

AbstractAn inverse relationship between egg and clutch size has been found repeatedly across animal groups, including birds, reptiles and amphibians, and is considered to be a result of resource limitations and physical constraints on the reproducing female. However, few studies have contextualised this relationship with respect to various environmental selecting pressures and life history traits that have also likely influenced the selection of an optimal egg/clutch size combination, while even fewer have tested these interrelationships using robust natural history datasets. In this study, we aimed to test current hypothesises regarding these relationships on both egg and clutch sizes among the Australian Anurans, which to date have not received this kind of investigation. Specifically, we looked at the influence of environmental selecting pressures (egg laying location, environment persistence and bioregion) and life history traits (adult female body size, egg development type, parental care level, breeding period and temporal breeding pattern). As expected, a clear inverse relationship was found between egg and clutch size, while female body size was positively related to both. Generally speaking, smaller clutches of larger eggs tended to be produced by species that i) oviposit terrestrially, ii) showcase direct development and iii) possess high levels of parental care. Temporal breeding pattern was strongly related to clutch size only, with large clutches occurring in explosive breeding species, while breeding habitat was strongly related to egg size only, with large eggs sizes occurring in terrestrial species. Altogether, these findings indicate that numerous factors have likely influenced the evolution of an optimal clutch type in this group, highlighting the importance of incorporating such variables into animal studies on egg and clutch sizes.

scholarly journals Species' Life-History Traits Explain Interspecific Variation in Reservoir Competence: A Possible Mechanism Underlying the Dilution Effect

PLoS ONE ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e54341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zheng Y. X. Huang ◽  
Willem F. de Boer ◽  
Frank van Langevelde ◽  
Valerie Olson ◽  
Tim M. Blackburn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Dilution Effect ◽  
Interspecific Variation

The unity of characters: ecological and morphological specialisation in larvae of Hawaiian platynine Carabidae (Coleoptera)

2000 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 931 ◽  
Author(s):  
James K. Liebherr
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Phylogenetic Inference ◽  
Larval Period ◽  
Larval Duration ◽  
Similar Treatment ◽  
First Instar ◽  
Functional Linkage ◽  
History Information

Life history information and first instar egg bursters are compared for larvae of 25 species across the monophyletic radiation of Hawaiian Platynini (Coleoptera : Carabidae). The plesiotypic larval duration is approximately five weeks, with derived extension of the larval period having evolved during phylogenetic diversification of the radiation. This extension in larval duration is associated with vestigialisation of the metathoracic flight wings. Egg size is larger in those brachypterous species with slower developing larvae, reflecting pervasive ecological specialisation of these taxa in the isolated, favourable, and temporally stable habitats of Hawaiian montane forests. First instar egg bursters are also compared across these taxa, with evolution of a keel-like egg burster congruently defining a clade also characterised by longer larval duration and larger egg size. A functional linkage between egg burster configuration and egg size is rejected by lack of any association between egg size and egg burster type in the related genus Calathus. Such rejection does not reduce the value of the egg burster for phylogenetic inference. The ability to assess taxa for both life history traits and egg burster configuration argues for similar treatment of all such characters, both ecological and morphological, when estimating phylogeny.

scholarly journals Determinants of life-history traits in a fish ectoparasite: a hierarchical analysis

Parasitology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 138 (7) ◽  
pp. 848-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. LOOT ◽  
N. POULET ◽  
S. BROSSE ◽  
L. TUDESQUE ◽  
F. THOMAS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Individual Fitness ◽  
Parasite Number ◽  
Egg Number

SUMMARYObjective. Unravelling the determinants of parasite life-history traits in natural settings is complex. Here, we deciphered the relationships between biotic, abiotic factors and the variation in 4 life-history traits (body size, egg presence, egg number and egg size) in the fish ectoparasite Tracheliastes polycolpus. We then determined the factors affecting the strength of the trade-off between egg number and egg size. Methods. To do so, we used 4-level (parasite, microhabitat, host and environment) hierarchical models coupled to a field database. Results. Variation in life-history traits was mostly due to individual characteristics measured at the parasite level. At the microhabitat level (fins of fish hosts), parasite number was positively related to body size, egg presence and egg number. Higher parasite number on fins was positively associated with individual parasite fitness. At the host level, host body size was positively related to the individual fitness of the parasite; parasites were bigger and more fecund on bigger hosts. In contrast, factors measured at the environmental level had a weak influence on life-history traits. Finally, a site-dependent trade-off between egg number and egg size existed in this population. Conclusion. Our study illustrates the importance of considering parasite life-history traits in a hierarchical framework to decipher complex links between biotic, abiotic factors and parasite life-history traits.

Clutch and egg size of the tropical lizard Tropidurus torquatus (Tropiduridae) along its geographic range in coastal eastern Brazil

2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (12) ◽  
pp. 1376-1388 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Kiefer ◽  
M. Van Sluys ◽  
C. F.D. Rocha
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Female Body ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Reproductive Investment ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Minimum Size ◽  
Brazilian Coast ◽  
Female Body Size ◽  
Almost All

The tropidurid lizard Tropidurus torquatus (Wied, 1820) has a set of populations inhabiting coastal sand dune habitats (“restinga”) along the eastern Brazilian coast. Despite its wide geographic range, there is no information about geographic variation in reproductive features among its populations. In the present study we compared some reproductive aspects of females in 10 coastal populations of T. torquatus, aiming to evaluate to what extension they vary geographically. The minimum size at maturity was relatively similar to most populations, but mean female body size had a considerable variation. Clutch size of almost all coastal populations of T. torquatus had little variation and was composed predominantly of two eggs. Interpopulational variation in the mean egg volume was relatively wide and strongly influenced by the variation in mean female body size. The data of the present study indicated that females of almost all coastal populations of T. torquatus produce, predominantly, clutches with two eggs and invest more energy in egg size instead of clutch size, probably as a consequence of morphological and environmental factors. The increased reproductive investment in egg size was confirmed by the values obtained for the relative clutch mass, which remained relatively constant along the coastal geographic distribution of T. torquatus.

scholarly journals Relative clutch mass of Basiliscus vittatus Wiegmann, 1828 (Squamata, Corytophanidae): female morphological constraints

Herpetozoa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 211-219
Author(s):  
Gabriel Suárez-Varón ◽  
Orlando Suárez-Rodríguez ◽  
Gisela Granados-González ◽  
Maricela Villagrán-Santa Cruz ◽  
Kevin M. Gribbins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
The Family ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
Abiotic And Biotic Factors ◽  
Gravid Females ◽  
Favorable Conditions ◽  
Clutch Mass

Clutch size (CS) and relative clutch mass (RCM) are considered important features in life history descriptions of species within Squamata. Variations in these two characteristics are caused by both biotic and abiotic factors. The present study provides the first account related to CS and RCM ofBasiliscus vittatusin Mexico within a population that inhabits an open riverbed juxtapositioned to tropical rainforest habitat in Catemaco, Veracruz, Mexico (170 m a.s.l.). Twenty-nine gravid females were collected and kept in captivity under favorable conditions that promote oviposition. The CS within this population was 6.2 ± 0.2 and was correlated positively with snout vent-length (SVL); while the RCM was 0.17 ± 0.006 and was correlated positively with both CS and width of egg. Factors, such as female morphology and environmental conditions, should influence these reproductive traits inB. vittatus. The data collected in this study could provide a framework for comparisons of the life history traits across populations ofB. vittatusin Mexico and within other species of the family Corytophanidae and provide a model for testing how abiotic and biotic factors may influence the CS and RCM in basilisk lizards throughout their range.

scholarly journals Variations in the reproductive strategies of three populations of Phrynocephalus helioscopus in China

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5705
Author(s):  
Tao Liang ◽  
Lu Zhou ◽  
Wenfeng He ◽  
Lirong Xiao ◽  
Lei Shi
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Reproductive Strategies ◽  
Female Body ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Breeding Period ◽  
Female Body Size ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Morphological Constraint

Background Egg size and clutch size are key life history traits. During the breeding period, it is possible for females to increase their reproductive output either by increasing the number of eggs if the optimal egg size (OES) is maintained, or by increasing the allocation of energy to each egg. However, the strategies adopted are often influenced by animals’ morphology and environment. Methods Here, we examined variation in female morphological and reproductive traits, tested for trade-offs between egg size and clutch size, and evaluated the relationship between egg size and female morphology in three populations of Phrynocephalus helioscopus. Results Female body size, egg size, and clutch size were larger in the Yi Ning (YN) and Fu Yun (FY) populations than in the Bei Tun (BT) population (the FY and YN populations laid more, and rounder eggs). Egg size was independent of female body size in two populations (BT and FY), even though both populations had an egg-size/clutch size trade-off. In the YN population, egg size and clutch size were independent, but egg size was correlated with female body size, consistent with the hypothesis of morphological constraint. Conclusions Our study found geographical variation in body size and reproductive strategies of P. helioscopus. Egg size was correlated with morphology in the larger-bodied females of the YN population, but not in the smaller-bodied females of the BT population, illustrating that constraints on female body size and egg size are not consistent between populations.

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