Intraspecific Variation in Body Size and Fecundity in Insects: A General Relationship

Honěk, Alois

doi:10.2307/3544943

Cited by 1,410 publications

(1,087 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…Second, body weight reduction may affect blood feeding and bloodmeal utilization for egg production. Our findings support the longstanding idea that body size and fecundity are positively correlated in insects (Honek 1993). Therefore, at least in female kissing bugs, body weight as well as linear measurements of body size would be reliable predictors of reproductive investment.…”

supporting

confidence: 78%

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What does determine gonad weight in the wild kissing bug Mepraia spinolai

Botto‐Mahan

Medel

2007

Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz

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supporting

confidence: 78%

“…Size and fecundity are influenced by genetic factors, development, and environmental conditions, however, under constant environmental conditions fecundity is positively correlated with female size (Honek 1993). Egg production increases with body size and this increase is often expected simply because larger females have more internal space for eggs.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

What does determine gonad weight in the wild kissing bug Mepraia spinolai

Botto‐Mahan

Medel

2007

Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz

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“…A low mass at emergence may reduce larval survival but also adult fecundity. Indeed, larval growth rate is positively correlated with adult fecundity in several insect species (e.g., Awmack and Leather 2002;Honek 1993;Kause et al 1999). It would thus be very interesting in future studies to quantify how fruit abortion translates into reduced energetic costs and risk of secondary attack for the plant, and into lower moth survival and fecundity, and as a result lower abundance of the seed predator (Holland and DeAngelis 2002;Holland et al 2004b;Westerbergh and Westerbergh 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benefits and costs to pollinating, seed-eating insects: the effect of flower size and fruit abortion on larval performance

2009

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Plant-pollinator interactions are well-known examples of mutualism, but are not free of antagonism. Antagonistic interactions and defenses or counter-defenses are expected particularly in nursery pollination. In these systems, adult insects, while pollinating, lay their eggs in flowers, and juveniles consume the seeds from one or several fruits, thereby substantially reducing plant fitness. The outcome of such interactions will depend, for the plant, on the balance between pollination versus seed predation and for the larvae on the balance between the food and shelter provided versus the costs imposed by plant defenses, e.g., through abortion of infested fruits. Here, we examine the costs and benefits to the larvae in the nurserypollination system Silene latifolia/Hadena bicruris. Using selection lines that varied in flower size (large-vs. smallflowered plants), we investigated the effects of variation in flower and fruit size and of a potential defense, fruit abortion, on larval performance. In this system, infested fruits are significantly more likely to be aborted than noninfested fruits; however, it is unclear whether fruit abortion is effective as a defense. Larger flowers gave rise to larger fruits with more seeds, and larvae that were heavier at emergence. Fruit abortion was frequently observed (ca. 40% of the infested fruits). From aborted fruits, larvae emerged earlier and were substantially lighter than larvae emerging from non-aborted fruits. The lower mass at emergence of larvae from aborted fruits indicates that abortion is a resistance mechanism. Assuming that lower larval mass implies fewer resources invested in the frugivore, these results also suggest that abortion is likely to benefit the plant as a defense mechanism, by limiting both resources invested in attacked fruits, as well as the risk of secondary attack. This suggests that selective fruit abortion may contribute to the stability of mutualism also in this non-obligate system.

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“…Fecundity in most insects varies with body size (Honek 1993) and, as expected, the size of female egg parasitoids has a positive effect on the number of oocytes (O'Neill & Skinner 1990). Lifetime fecundity has been reported to vary from 18 to 56 eggs in females of T. euproctidis that emerged from P. xylostella (head width 140 μm) and Anagasta kuehniella (Zeller) (head width 166 μm), respectively (Boivin & Lagacé 1999).…”

Section: Phenotypic Plasticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic plasticity and fitness in egg parasitoids

Boivin¹

2010

Neotrop. entomol.

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-Several proxies can be used to estimate the fi tness of egg parasitoids: size, longevity, fecundity, mating ability and vagility. All these proxies are positively correlated with the lifetime fi tness gain of an individual. However, the phenotypic plasticity, which is the ability of a genotype to produce distinct phenotypes depending on environmental conditions, may alter the value of these proxies. Host related factors (host species and quality), competition and duration of development will infl uence the proxies expressed by a given phenotype. When the phenotype is modifi ed by the temperature at which an individual develops, the resulting phenotype will vary based on the life history strategy of the parasitoid. While in koinobiont species an increase in size is positively correlated with longevity and fecundity, the reverse occurs with idiobiont parasitoids. Using size as a proxy could thus be misleading depending on the factors that infl uence the size of the adult.KEY WORDS: Fitness, proxy, reproduction, longevity, phenotype Most optimality models are based on the assumption that organisms optimize some physiological or behavioral characteristics in order to maximize their lifetime fi tness (Stephens & Krebs 1986). Fitness, defi ned here as the success of an individual in passing on copies of its genes to future generations (Bolhuis & Giraldeau 2005), is therefore used as a measure of success and any change in the morphology, physiology or behavior of an animal that increases its lifetime fi tness is expected to be positively selected. This concept is central in behavioral ecology and both direct fi tness and inclusive fi tness are recognized. Direct fi tness refers to the fi tness gained by an individual through the production of its own offspring while inclusive fi tness refers to the sum of the direct fi tness plus the indirect fi tness gained by the reproduction of nondescendant relatives (Krebs & Davies 1997).Insect parasitoids are good organisms to test hypothesis in behavioral ecology as the expression of behaviors associated with host localization and parasitization are directly linked to a gain in fi tness. Indeed, fi nding and successfully parasitizing a host results in additional progeny and therefore in an increase in fi tness (Godfray 1994). Another research area where measures of fi tness are used for parasitoids is applied ecology and in particular biological control (Roitberg et al 2001). When comparing different species or genotypes within a species for their potential in biological control programs, measures of fi tness can be used to assess their capacity to multiply and control a targeted pest.However, measuring directly fi tness is a diffi cult and timeconsuming process. One would have to measure the relative performance of genotypes and quantify their representation in a population over several generations (Hoffman 1994). In general, proxies that give absolute values, such as size, longevity, fecundity etc., are used to approximate the fi tness of an individual. The different...

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Intraspecific Variation in Body Size and Fecundity in Insects: A General Relationship

Cited by 1,410 publications

References 85 publications

What does determine gonad weight in the wild kissing bug Mepraia spinolai

What does determine gonad weight in the wild kissing bug Mepraia spinolai

Benefits and costs to pollinating, seed-eating insects: the effect of flower size and fruit abortion on larval performance

Phenotypic plasticity and fitness in egg parasitoids

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