Parental care decreases the survival of adults in the waterbug Abedus ovatus

Abstract

Among animals, especially insects, care of offspring exclusively performed by males is rare. Paternal care increases survival of their offspring but may be costly for males. Our objective was to evaluate the potential survival costs of parental care in the waterbug Abedus ovatus where males only care their eggs. We conducted a capture‐mark‐recapture study and estimated apparent survival probabilities of parental males, non‐parental males and females in a Mexican waterbug population. In addition, we also estimated recapture rates and the transition rates between non‐parental males and parental males. Our results suggest that paternal care negatively affects the survival of A. ovatus since survival probability of parental males is lower than non‐parental males. The recapture probability was higher in non‐parental males than in parental males. The decreased probability of survival in parental males may be due to different factors. As males carry the eggs on their backs this could probably affect their swimming performance and therefore affect their ability to capture prey. Additionally, the physiological wear derived from the intense muscular activity when performing subaquatic parental care behaviors such as brood pumping, could deteriorate their condition and subsequently, their survival. Furthermore, parental males are more conspicuous to predators, especially in the later stages of egg development, which may increase mortality rates. Our results support the trade‐off between current and future reproduction and provide evidence of parental care survival costs in a model system where only males care the progeny.