Life history trait response to ambient temperature and food availability variations in the bean weevil Zabrotes subfasciatus

Abstract

Temperature is among the most influential factors in animal biology, and especially thermal fluctuations are key determinants of life history traits for ectothermic organisms. Diet characteristics add complexity to the effect of temperature on animals' life history traits. This is even more intricate in phytophagous insects that develop inside hosts. Here, using the seed beetle Zabrotes subfasciatus Boheman we tested life history trait response to five different ambient temperatures (15, 25, 30, 35, and 45 °C). We also tested the effect of the interaction between temperature and diet on the weevils' life history traits and estimated fitness for individuals at different temperature and food supplementation conditions. We first showed that the relationship between temperature and egg size and number, and adult emergence is altered by sugar ingestion, mainly at 30 °C. Additionally, we showed that temperature and sugar ingestion have opposite effects on longevity, with this trait being heightened by sugar ingestion at 25 °C. Interestingly, except at 35 °C, egg size shows a response that opposes the temperature‐size rule, which states increasing environmental temperature reduces insect's size. Finally, excluding the extreme temperatures, fitness patterns increased with temperature and the clearer effect of parental feeding on fitness was registered at 30 °C. Since 30 °C is the temperature at which our weevil populations are maintained in the laboratory, these results point to a possible long‐term “acclimation effect” on the weevils' fitness. Thus, testing the effect of the temperature experienced by the original population on the experimental weevils' fitness might shed light on the biological explanation of the observed temperature vs diet interaction.

Distinct impacts of feeding frequency and warming on life history traits affect population fitness in vertebrate ectotherms

“…For example, a recent study showed that warming accelerates growth and reproduction leading to a rapid life cycle but also a decrease in adult survival in a temperate lizard species (Bestion et al, 2015). This study and others (Clissold & Simpson, 2015;Corrêa et al, 2021;Courtney Jones et al, 2015;Kingsolver et al, 2006;Marn et al, 2017;Rohner et al, 2017) suggest that it is important to investigate the links between growth trajectories and fitness related traits (survival and fecundity) to better understand how the combination of these traits may influence individual fitness and population demographic parameters.…”

“…Individuals need enough resources, as energy and material inputs, to sustain their metabolic demand and optimize the allocation of energy to growth, reproduction, and maintenance (Brown et al., 2004; Cross et al., 2015; Lemoine & Burkepile, 2012). There is a long history of research on the influence of food on the growth rate and fecundity of ectothermic species (Boersma & Vijverberg, 1996; Corrêa et al., 2021; Giberson & Rosenberg, 1992; Johnston et al., 2002; Rasmussen & Ostenfeld, 2000). In most cases, individuals with a higher food level have a higher fecundity and have both a higher initial growth rate and a larger size at age compared to individuals under limited food conditions.…”

“…Interestingly, food restriction may also be beneficial to the life span of organisms as this restriction reduces the production of senescence‐accelerating oxidizing agents during metabolism (Gredilla et al., 2001; Sohal & Weindruch, 1996; Speakman, 2005), resulting in a “eat little die old” strategy. The effects of food on fecundity (which decreases) and survival (which increases) are thus opposite and can be explained by a resource distribution to nutrient‐limited processes (Corrêa et al., 2021). As for temperature, this indicates that we should consider the effects of food on multiple life history traits to better identify fitness consequences and thus evolutionary strategies.…”

“…Besides temperature, another major factor underlying growth, reproduction, and survival is food (Boersma & Vijverberg, 1996; Boggs & Ross, 1993; Corrêa et al., 2021; Giberson & Rosenberg, 1992). Individuals need enough resources, as energy and material inputs, to sustain their metabolic demand and optimize the allocation of energy to growth, reproduction, and maintenance (Brown et al., 2004; Cross et al., 2015; Lemoine & Burkepile, 2012).…”

“…Better understanding the interactions between temperature and food is thus crucial for anticipating ecological responses to multiple drivers of global change, such as climate warming and elevated nutrient supply. The interactive effects of temperature and food on life history traits have been studied in many organisms such as phytoplankton (Huey & Kingsolver, 2019), diatoms (Thomas et al., 2017; Walczyńska & Sobczyk, 2017), rotifers (Kiełbasa et al., 2014), cladocerans (Betini et al., 2020; Giebelhausen & Lampert, 2001; Persson et al., 2011; Wojewodzic et al., 2011), aquatic insect larvae (Giberson & Rosenberg, 1992), terrestrial insects (Clissold & Simpson, 2015; Corrêa et al., 2021; Kingsolver et al., 2006; Kingsolver & Woods, 1998; Lee & Roh, 2010; Petersen et al., 2000; Rohner et al., 2017), fish (Brett, 1971; Brett et al., 1969; McLeod et al., 2013), and turtles (Marn et al., 2017). In these studies, warming generally resulted in a rapid life cycle by increasing growth rates and decreasing age and size at maturity as well as survival probabilities.…”