Male Reproductive Traits Display Increased Phenotypic Variation in Response to Resource Quality and Parental Provisioning in a Tropical Rainforest Dung Beetle, <i>Onthophagus</i> c.f. <i>babirussa</i>.

ABSTRACT: Reproductive traits that mediate differential fitness associated with mate acquisition and fertilisation success are often strongly linked to the overall condition. We investigated the effects of resource quality and parental provisioning in the phenotypic expression of sexual and non-sexual traits in a rainforest dung beetle, Onthophagus c.f. babirussa (Eschscholtz, 1822) from Singapore. F1 individuals were reared from wild-caught beetles and paired up to produce offspring (F2), and F2 larvae from the same F1 parents were reared on two dung substrates (herbivore and omnivore) in a full-sib design. Sexual traits displayed greater phenotypic variation in response to dung resource quality, with the precopulatory trait (horn length) responding more than the postcopulatory trait

SUBMITTER: Yap S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11473793 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature