Cannibalistic Predation in Populations of Flour Beetles

Park, Thomas; Mertz, David B.; Grodziński, Władysław; Prus, Tadeusz

doi:10.1086/physzool.38.3.30152840

Cited by 167 publications

(112 citation statements)

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“…8 or 16 males) may be higher than in the treatments of a female with fewer males (e.g. one or two males) (Park et al 1965). Higher cannibalism rates in the treatments with multiple males should not affect F 1 male and female fitness differently because there was no evidence that male and female eggs were cannibalized differentially by the adult beetles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Polyandry produces sexy sons at the cost of daughters in red flour beetles

Pai

Yan

2002

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Female mating with multiple males within a single fertile period is a common phenomenon in the animal kingdom. Female insects are particularly promiscuous. It is not clear why females mate with multiple partners despite several potential costs, such as expenditure of time and energy, reduced lifespan, risk of predation and contracting sexually transmitted diseases. Female red flour beetles (Tribolium castaneum) obtain sufficient sperm from a single insemination to retain fertility for several months. Nonetheless they copulate repeatedly within minutes with different males despite no direct fitness benefits from this behaviour. One hypothesis is that females mate with multiple partners to provide indirect benefits via enhanced offspring fitness. To test this hypothesis, we compared the relative fitness of F 1 offspring from females mated with single males and multiple males (2, 4, 8, or 16 partners), under the condition of relatively high intraspecific competition. We found that a female mating with 16 males enhanced the relative fitness of F 1 males (in two out of three trials) but reduced F 1 females' fitness (in two independent trials) in comparison with singly mated females. We also determined whether several important fitness correlates were affected by polyandry. We found that F 1 males from mothers with 16 partners inseminated more females than F 1 males from mothers with a single partner. The viability of the eggs sired or produced by F 1 males and females from highly polyandrous mothers was also increased under conditions of low intraspecific competition. Thus, the effects of polyandry on F 1 offspring fitness depend on environmental conditions. Our results demonstrated a fitness trade-off between male and female offspring from polyandrous mothers in a competitive environment. The mechanisms and biological significance of this unique phenomenon are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Polyandry produces sexy sons at the cost of daughters in red flour beetles

Pai

Yan

2002

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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“…Self-regulation also could be accomplished by changes in survival rates-for example, by cannibalism (Park et al 1965, Mertz andRobertson 1970) or by dispersal. However, causes of deaths usually include extrinsic factors, such as predators, disease, or food scarcity.…”

Section: Population Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Population Ecology of Uinta Ground Squirrels

Slade¹,

Balph²

1974

Ecology

191

101

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Abstract. The behavior and ecology of Uinta ground squirrels (Spermophilus armatus) at the Utah State University Forestry Field Station northeast of Logan, Utah, were studied 1964-71 to determine the role of behavior in population regulation. In 1968 the population was reduced experimentally to about one-half the previous density.The study area consisted of a lawn area where resident squirrels more than replaced themselves, and an area of mixed shrubs and grasses where they did not. Surplus squirrels from the lawn raised the population density off the lawn. Also, habitat suitabilities varied with population densities. Hence, densities in the two areas were not proportional to habitat preferences.Before the reduction the population density fluctuated widely but the mean change for 5 yr was approximately zero. A potentially high rate of increase was curtailed by disappearance of juveniles and yearlings; juveniles tended to disperse from the natal burrow. The principal changes following the reduction were increases in percentage of yearling squirrels breeding and of juveniles remaining on the study area. Litter size and proportion of adult females breeding did not change significantly, but losses during hibernation, due in part to badger predation, decreased. Dispersal of squirrels from the study area played a key role in population regulation.Dispersers probably suffered higher mortality than sedentary squirrels, but dispersal was not necessarily maladaptive for the individual. Dispersers may have been unable to produce young at high densities; thus emigration offered the only opportunity for reproduction.

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“…When cannibals and victims are in different year classes or life stages (e.g., adults and larvae), dominant cohorts of cannibals can regulate recruitment (Gaines and Roughgarden 1985, Hastings and Constantino 1987, McCauley and Murdoch 1987, Van Buskirk 1992. Negative density dependence and recruitment regulation by cannibalism have been best studied in Tribolium beetles (Park et al 1965, Mertz 1972, Benoıˆt et al 1998) and predatory fishes (Donovan et al 1997, Juanes 2003, Post 2003, Andersson et al 2007). In both cases, whether cannibalism stabilizes or destabilizes populations depends on an interplay between the positive effects on cannibal growth and fecundity and negative effects on victim survival and growth (Hastings and Constantino 1991, Claessen and de Roos 2003, Persson et al 2004a.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consumptive and nonconsumptive effects of cannibalism in fluctuating age‐structured populations

Wissinger

Whiteman

Denoël

et al. 2010

Ecology

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Abstract. Theory and empirical studies suggest that cannibalism in age-structured populations can regulate recruitment depending on the intensity of intraspecific competition between cannibals and victims and the nature of the cannibalism window, i.e., which size classes interact as cannibals and victims. Here we report on a series of experiments that quantify that window for age-structured populations of salamander larvae and paedomorphic adults. We determined body size limits on cannibalism in microcosms and then the consumptive and nonconsumptive (injuries, foraging and activity, diet, growth) effects on victims in mesocosms with seminatural levels of habitat complexity and alternative prey. We found that cannibalism by the largest size classes (paedomorphs and !age 3þ yr larvae) occurs mainly on young-of-the-year (YOY) victims. Surviving YOY and other small larvae had increased injuries, reduced activity levels, and reduced growth rates in the presence of cannibals. Data on YOY survival in an experiment in which we manipulated the density of paedomorphs combined with historical data on the number of cannibals in natural populations indicate that dominant cohorts of paedomorphs can cause observed recruitment failures. Dietary data indicate that ontogenetic shifts in diet should preclude strong intraspecific competition between YOY and cannibals in this species. Thus our results are consistent with previous empirical and theoretical work that suggests that recruitment regulation by cannibalism is most likely when YOY are vulnerable to cannibalism but have low dietary overlap with cannibals. Understanding the role of cannibalism in regulating recruitment in salamander populations is timely, given the widespread occurrences of amphibian decline. Previous studies have focused on extrinsic (including anthropogenic) factors that affect amphibian population dynamics, whereas the data presented here combined with long-term field observations suggest the potential for intrinsically driven population cycles.

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Cannibalistic Predation in Populations of Flour Beetles

Cited by 167 publications

References 0 publications

Polyandry produces sexy sons at the cost of daughters in red flour beetles

Polyandry produces sexy sons at the cost of daughters in red flour beetles

Population Ecology of Uinta Ground Squirrels

Consumptive and nonconsumptive effects of cannibalism in fluctuating age‐structured populations

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