Larval environmental conditions influence plasticity in resource use by adults in the burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides.

ABSTRACT: Recent studies have shown that intraspecific patterns of phenotypic plasticity can mirror patterns of evolutionary diversification among species. This appears to be the case in Nicrophorus beetles. Within species, body size is positively correlated with the size of carrion used to provision larvae and parental performance. Likewise, among species, variation in body size influences whether species exploit smaller or larger carrion and the extent to which larvae depend on parental care. However, it is unclear whether developmental plasticity in response to carcass size, parental care, or both underlie transitions to new carcass niches. We examined this by testing whether variation in the conditions experienced by Nicrophorus vespilloides larvae influenced their ability to breed efficiently u

SUBMITTER: Schrader M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9293066 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature