Effects of genetic vs. environmental quality on condition-dependent morphological and life history traits in a neriid fly.

ABSTRACT: Condition is assumed to reflect both genes and environment, enabling condition-dependent signals to reveal genetic quality. However, because the phenotypic effects of variation in genetic quality could be masked by environmental heterogeneity, the contribution of genetic quality to phenotypic variation in fitness-related traits and condition-dependent signals remains unclear. We compared effects of ecologically relevant manipulations of environmental quality (nutrient dilution in the larval diet) and genetic quality (one generation of inbreeding) on male and female morphology, life history and reproductive performance in the neriid fly Telostylinus angusticollis. We found that larval diet quality had strong, positive effects on male and female body size, male secondary sexual traits, and a

SUBMITTER: Hooper AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9325454 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature