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Effect of larval‐rearing density on adult life‐history traits and developmental stability of the dorsal eyespot pattern in the speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria
Author(s) -
Gibbs Melanie,
Breuker Casper J.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1111/j.1570-7458.2006.00361.x
Subject(s) - biology , fluctuating asymmetry , larva , lepidoptera genitalia , zoology , butterfly , ecology , population , offspring , demography , sociology , pregnancy , genetics
Behavioural stresses such as crowding are thought to incur a metabolic cost to insect larvae, and fluctuating asymmetry (FA) has been shown to be a possible indicator of this stress. A study of a Madeiran population of the butterfly Pararge aegeria L. (Lepidoptera: Satyrinae) shows that larval crowding affects larval development and growth, with female larvae being more adversely affected than males. It was predicted that if larval crowding increases FA, male and female P. aegeria adults may show different responses to this stress. The FA of five different wing pattern elements on the dorsal hindwings of adult male and female P. aegeria that had been reared at different larval densities was measured. Crowding in P. aegeria resulted in a trait‐specific and sex‐specific increase in FA. Although a significant correlation between FA and longevity was not observed, there was a significant correlation with egg‐laying rate. Stressed females increased their egg‐laying rate. An increased egg‐laying rate may carry a further fitness cost through the offspring of stressed females, because high egg‐laying rates are associated with a decline in oviposition site quality.