Callosobruchus larval competition and its consequences for male and female adults

Abstract

The struggle for life is generally the most intense among individuals of the same species because they compete to access the same food, territory, and mates. In the current study, we used Callosobruchus maculatus to investigate how males and females respond to a competitor's presence inside a bean. We monitored males' and females' from egg to adult developmental time, adult emergence, copulation success, copulatory behaviors, fecundity, egg hatching percentage, and adult longevity. Our findings revealed that a competitor's presence during immature life did not influence developmental time and adult longevity in females and males. Also, the environmental condi-How to cite this article: