Immunity for nothing and the eggs for free: Apparent lack of both physiological trade-offs and terminal reproductive investment in female crickets (Gryllus texensis).

ABSTRACT: Should females alter their reproductive strategy when attacked by pathogens? Two hypotheses provide opposite predictions. Terminal reproductive investment theory predicts that reproduction should increase when the risk of death increases. However, physiological trade-offs between reproduction and immune function might be expected to produce a decrease in reproduction during a robust immune response. There is evidence for both hypotheses. We examine whether age determines the effect of an immune challenge on reproductive strategy in long-winged females of the Texas field cricket, Gryllus texensis, when fed an ecologically valid (i.e. limited) diet. The limited diet reduced reproductive output. However, even under resource-limited conditions, immune challenge had no effect on the reproductiv

SUBMITTER: Miyashita A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6519836 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature