Influence of maternal age on incidence of pupal diapause in the flesh fly, Sarcophaga bullata

Abstract

Females of the flesh fly, Sarcophaga bullata Parker, produce an increasingly higher number of diapausing progeny in successive broods. Though a maternal effect completely eliminates the capacity for diapause in the first brood of females with an embryonic and larval history of short day, diapause is restored at low levels in later broods. Exposure to long daylength at the onset of adult life does not alter the diapause response of later broods, thus suggesting that the age effect cannot be modified by daylength manipulation. The age response implies that changes in maternal physiology exert an important regulatory control on the diapause fate of the pupa.

Maternal Effects in Insect Life Histories

“…In most cases, the frequency of diapause increases with maternal age (52, 110,113,124,133,141,152,154,156,158,165,166), although the reverse situation has also been reported (16, 128). In most cases, the frequency of diapause increases with maternal age (52, 110,113,124,133,141,152,154,156,158,165,166), although the reverse situation has also been reported (16, 128).…”

Genetic and maternal influences on life history plasticity in milkweed bugs (Oncopeltus): response to temperature

“…Maternal control over the production of diapause versus non-diapause eggs (Danks, 1987;Saunders, 1987) and of winged versus wingless offspring ( MacKay and Wellington, 1977) often depends on maternal age, as does the maternal effect which prevents diapause in the offspring of mothers that themselves have undergone diapause (Henrich and Denlinger, 1982;Rockey and Denlinger, 1986). The role of maternal effects can thus be altered via shifts in the timing of their occurrence.…”

Differences in the effects of parental age on offspring life history between tropical and temperate populations of milkweed bugs (Oncopeltus spp.)

“…As adult mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) age, for example, they produce larvae that develop to adulthood more rapidly (Ludwig and Fiore, 1961); conversely, cowpea weevils (Callosobruchus maculatus) have a slower rate of both embryonic and larval development with increasing parental age (Wasserman and Asami, 1985). Similarly, juvenile survival decreases with parental age in cowpea weevils but increases in the eastern spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumeriferana) (Harvey, 1977) and the proportion of offspring entering diapause decreases with parental age in the pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella) (Raina and Bell, 1974), but increases in the flesh fly (Sacophaga buUeta) (Rockey and Denlinger, 1986) and a parasitoid wasp (Nasonia vitripennis) *To whom correspondence should be addressed.…”