Developmental mortality increases sex-ratio bias of a size-dimorphic bark beetle.

ABSTRACT: 1. Given sexual size dimorphism, differential mortality owing to body size can lead to sex-biased mortality, proximately biasing sex ratios. This mechanism may apply to mountain pine beetles, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, which typically have female-biased adult populations (2 : 1) with females larger than males. Smaller males could be more susceptible to stresses than larger females as developing beetles overwinter and populations experience high mortality. 2. Survival of naturally-established mountain pine beetles during the juvenile stage and the resulting adult sex ratios and body sizes (volume) were studied. Three treatments were applied to vary survival in logs cut from trees containing broods of mountain pine beetles. Logs were removed from the forest either in early winte

SUBMITTER: Lachowsky LE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4207193 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature