Download free PDF

Abstract

Early body condition may be important for adult behavior and fitness, and is impacted by a number of environmental conditions and biotic interactions. Reduced fecundity of adult females exposed to larval competition may be caused by reduced body condition or shifts in relative body composition, yet these mechanisms have not been well researched. Here, body mass, body size, scaled body mass index, and two body components (water content and lean dry mass) of adult Callosobruchus maculatus (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) females exposed to larval competition or reared alone were examined. Experimental females emerged at significantly smaller body mass and body size than control females. Additionally, scaled body mass index and water content, but not lean dry mass, were significantly reduced in experimental females. To our knowledge, these are the first results that demonstrate a potential mechanism for previously documented direct effects of competition on fecundity in female bruchine beetles.

Keywords: body components, Bruchinae, development, scaled body mass index

Abbreviations: ANOVA, analysis of variance; MANOVA, multivariate analysis of variance; PCA, principal components analysis

Correspondence: ^a daynika.schade@gmail.com, ^b smvamosi@ucalgary.ca, *Corresponding author

Editor: Tugrul Giray was Editor of this paper.

Received: 27 April 2011 | Accepted: 4 November 2011 | Published: 14 March 2012

Copyright: This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.  

ISSN: 1536-2442 | Volume 12, Number 35

Schade DJ, Vamosi SM. 2012. Larval competition reduces body condition in the female seed beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus. Journal of Insect Science 12:35 available online: insectscience.org/12.35