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Explore the trade-off between the size and number of offspring in Stator limbatus seed beetles. Learn how parental fitness is influenced by environmental context and the survival rates of offspring based on host quality.
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How large should offspring be? • Trade-off between number and size of offspring. • Produce many small OR few large? • Can be dictated by environmental context; i.e., the reproductive strategy may include phenotypic plasticity • e.g. Stator limbatus (a seed beetle)
Seed beetle: Stator limbatus Blue palo verde seed Poor host: < 1/2 larvae survive Cat-claw acacia seed Good host: most larvae survive
Assumption 1 Size decreases with an increased number of sibs Stator limbatus Results 1 Minimum size at which offspring survive is smaller on good host Offspring survival Results 2 Optimal offspring size for parent is larger on poor host Parental fitness
Control 1st egg on one host - then female switched to Tte other host