Interaction between prenatal and postnatal provisioning in a subsocial bug

Abstract

Abstract When females provide different types of parental provisioning sequentially, earlier provisioning can affect later provisioning. In variable environments, selection will favour the optimal combination of prenatal and postnatal maternal effects. In the burrower bug Adomerus triguttulus, females have two types of provisioning: trophic eggs, which are deposited on clutches before hatching and are consumed immediately by hatchlings, and Lamium nutlets, which are delivered progressively to the brood after hatching. A previous study showed that the female alters trophic egg allocation according to resource conditions before oviposition. Different amounts of maternal trophic egg provisioning and consumption by offspring might affect subsequent maternal brood care, including nutlet provisioning. To examine the effect of trophic egg supply on brood care, we adjusted the number of trophic eggs available to hatchlings. When trophic eggs were removed experimentally, the females attended broods for longer and provisioned them with more nutlets. In contrast, when trophic eggs were added, females did not change the duration of care, but they provided fewer nutlets than control females. This finding provides new insights into the adaptive significance of trophic eggs.