Genetic variation and correlations of life-history traits in gypsy moths (Lymantria dispar L.) from two populations in Serbia

Abstract

Periodic fluctuations in density impose different selection pressures on populations of outbreaking Lepidoptera due to changes in their nutritional environment. The maternal effects hypothesis of insect outbreak predicts the transmission of this nutritional "information" to subsequent generations and alterations in offspring life-history traits. To test for these time-delayed effects of the parental generation, we compared life-history traits and their variation and covariation among laboratory-reared gypsy moths hatched from egg masses collected from low- and medium-density populations. Decreased individual performance was recorded in offspring from the medium-density population, indicating reduced egg provisioning under crowding conditions. Genetic variance and covariance were also shown to be sensitive to density of the parental generation. In gypsy moths from the medium-density population, quantitative genetic analysis revealed significantly higher broad-sense heritabilities for development duration traits and demonstrated a trade-off between development duration and body size.