Resource relocations in relation to dispersal in Tetranychus ludeni Zacher

Abstract

Life history strategies of a species may affect its invasion success. Here, we used a haplodiploid pest, Tetranychus ludeni Zacher (Acari: Tetranychidae), which is native to Europe but now cosmopolitan, to investigate its life history strategies in relation to its dispersal tendency and distance. We tested whether and how dispersal influenced survival, lifetime fecundity, age-specific reproduction, and life table parameters of mated females. We show that mated females did not trade off their survival and lifetime reproductive output with dispersal but adjusted their resource allocations during different reproductive stages depending on whether and how far they dispersed. Long-distance dispersers invested more in dispersal in their early life while resident mites and short-distance dispersers invested more in reproduction during their early life. These resource allocation strategies may allow long-distance dispersers to explore the novel environment more effectively without compromising lifetime reproductive fitness, contributing to the invasion success of T. ludeni.