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Initial reproductive investment and parental body size in Cryptocercus punctulatus (Dictyoptera: Cryptocercidae)
Author(s) -
NALEPA CHRISTINE A.,
MULLINS DONALD E.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
physiological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-3032
pISSN - 0307-6962
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3032.1992.tb01019.x
Subject(s) - biology , brood , zoology , dry weight , dictyoptera , reproduction , nymph , body weight , cockroach , ecology , botany , endocrinology
. Females of the subsocial woodroach Cryptocercus punctulatus Scudder generally have a single oviposition period during which they produce one to four oöthecae. Monogamous pairs and their recently deposited oöthecae were collected in the field, and measured, weighed and analysed for nitrogen in the laboratory. Females put 9.8 ± 2.4% (mean ± SD) of their dry weight and 11.6 ±0.5% of their body nitrogen into oöthecae. The total nitrogen and dry weight of the brood were positively related to the post‐oviposition total nitrogen and dry weight of the mother. A female's investment, on a per nymph basis, averaged 0.06% of her post‐oviposition dry weight. Females may be able to recover up to 58.7% of the nitrogen invested into a brood by consuming the egg cases after hatch. Overall, there was little variation in the width of head capsules of adults in this species, and this parameter was not significantly different between the sexes. Females were heavier than males (dry weight) (P = 0.06). Within pairs, the weights and nitrogen contents of males and females were positively correlated, probably because they feed together in the same log for nearly a year prior to reproduction.