scholarly journals Competition within species determines the value of a mutualism between species

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syuan-Jyun Sun ◽  
Nicholas P.C. Horrocks ◽  
Rebecca M. Kilner
Keyword(s):  
Body Temperature ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Scarce Resource ◽  
Burying Beetles ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides

AbstractSocial interactions within species, and mutualisms between species are both well characterised, but their influence on each other is poorly understood. We determined how interactions among burying beetles Nicrophorus vespilloides influence the value of their interactions with the mite Poecilochirus carabi. Beetles transport these mites to carrion, upon which both species breed. We show that mites help beetles win intraspecific contests for this scarce resource: mites raise beetle body temperature, which enhances beetle competitive prowess. However, mites confer this benefit only upon smaller beetles, which are otherwise doomed by their size to lose contests for carrion. Larger beetles need no assistance to win a carcass and lose reproductive success when breeding alongside mites. We conclude that social interactions within species explain whether interactions with another species are mutualistic or parasitic.One Sentence SummarySocial interactions within species can explain whether interactions with a second species are mutualistic or parasitic.

scholarly journals Cryptic host specialisation within Poecilochirus carabi mites explains population differences in the extent of co-adaptation with their burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides hosts

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syuan-Jyun Sun ◽  
Rebecca M. Kilner
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Population Differences ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Burying Beetles ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides ◽  
Pure Race ◽  
Different Populations ◽  
Host Specialisation ◽  
Small Vertebrate ◽  
Symbiotic Organisms

AbstractSymbiotic organisms adapt to one another but the extent of co-adaptation commonly varies among pairs of the same symbiotic species drawn from different populations. Here we identify some ecological causes of such differences between populations. We analysed the extent of local co-adaptation between burying beetles Nicrophorus vespilloides and their phoretic mites Poecilochirus carabi in Gamlingay and Waresley Woods, in Cambridgeshire, UK. Burying beetles transport mites to small vertebrate carrion upon which they both reproduce. We conducted reciprocal transplant experiments to test for evidence of local co-adaptation during reproduction. We found variation in the extent of local co-adaptation that was explained by cryptic host specialisation within P. carabi mites. P. carabi is a species complex, within which races of mites are specialised to associate with different species of burying beetle. We found that N. vespilloides from Gamlingay Wood carries a mixture of mite races, from each of the four Nicrophorus species that inhabits this wood. This mixture of races makes P.carabi harmful to Gamlingay N. vespilloides: together, they reduce beetle reproductive success. Experimentally purifying mites, so that Gamlingay N. vespilloides is associated only with the vespilloides mite race, improves beetle reproductive success. Waresley N. vespilloides, by contrast, carry a near pure race of vespilloides mites, which cause negligible damage to Waresley N. vespilloides reproductive success. This is probably because Waresley Wood harbours only two burying beetle species, which differ markedly in their reproductive biology. Cryptic host specialisation with P. carabi mites, combined with differences in the Nicrophorus guild between Gamlingay and Waresley Woods, therefore explain population differences in the extent of local adaptation between N. vespilloides and P. carabi.

scholarly journals Effect of male parental care on reproductive success of burying beetles, nicrophorus vespilloides

1970 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-170
Author(s):  
Sharmin Musa
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Average Weight ◽  
Offspring Survival ◽  
Burying Beetles ◽  
Care Experience ◽  
Offspring Fitness ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides ◽  
Key Words Parental Care

The burying beetles, Nicrophorus vespilloides (Coleoptera: Silphidae) show elaborate biparental care. They utilize a carcass as food of their own and to feed their offspring. Male parental care is important for both before and after the larvae hatch. But it is still not clear why male parents stay with the brood after the larvae hatch and provide care. The main objective of the study was to test whether male parents gain any future benefit from providing care that means access to carcass. Present investigation suggested previous parental care experience did not improve offspring fitness of future clutches. The offspring survival traits like number, average weight and development time showed no variation between clutches of experienced and inexperienced male parents. Key words: Parental care; Reproductive success; Burying beetles DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/dujbs.v19i2.8960 DUJBS 2010; 19(2): 165-170

Intended and unintended receivers of the male pheromones of the burying beetles Nicrophorus humator and Nicrophorus vespilloides

2011 ◽  
Vol 140 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolf Haberer ◽  
Thomas Schmitt ◽  
Peter Schreier ◽  
Josef K. Müller
Keyword(s):  
Burying Beetles ◽  
Male Pheromones ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides

scholarly journals Rapid, ultra-local adaptation facilitated by phenotypic plasticity

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syuan-Jyun Sun ◽  
Andrew M. Catherall ◽  
Sonia Pascoal ◽  
Benjamin J. M. Jarrett ◽  
Sara E. Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Reaction Norm ◽  
Ancestral Population ◽  
Adaptive Divergence ◽  
Wild Populations ◽  
Rapid Adaptation ◽  
Burying Beetles ◽  
Genetic Accommodation ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides

AbstractModels of ‘plasticity-first’ evolution are attractive because they explain the rapid evolution of new complex adaptations. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether plasticity can still facilitate rapid evolution when diverging populations are connected by gene flow. Here we show how plasticity has generated adaptive divergence in fecundity in wild populations of burying beetlesNicrophorus vespilloides, which are still connected by gene flow, which occupy distinct Cambridgeshire woodlands that are just 2.5km apart and which diverged from a common ancestral population c. 1000-4000 years ago. We show that adaptive divergence is duetothe coupling of an evolved increase in the elevation of the reaction norm linking clutch size to carrion size (i.e. genetic accommodation) with plastic secondary elimination of surplus offspring. Working in combination, these two processes have facilitated rapid adaptation to fine-scale environmental differences, despite ongoing gene flow.

scholarly journals Evolutionary change in the construction of the nursery environment when parents are prevented from caring for their young directly

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (48) ◽  
pp. e2102450118
Author(s):  
Ana Duarte ◽  
Darren Rebar ◽  
Allysa C. Hallett ◽  
Benjamin J. M. Jarrett ◽  
Rebecca M. Kilner
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Experimental Evolution ◽  
Evolutionary Change ◽  
Direct Care ◽  
Dead Body ◽  
Extended Phenotype ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Burying Beetles ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides ◽  
Cross Fostering

Parental care can be partitioned into traits that involve direct engagement with offspring and traits that are expressed as an extended phenotype and influence the developmental environment, such as constructing a nursery. Here, we use experimental evolution to test whether parents can evolve modifications in nursery construction when they are experimentally prevented from supplying care directly to offspring. We exposed replicate experimental populations of burying beetles (Nicrophorus vespilloides) to different regimes of posthatching care by allowing larvae to develop in the presence (Full Care) or absence of parents (No Care). After only 13 generations of experimental evolution, we found an adaptive evolutionary increase in the pace at which parents in the No Care populations converted a dead body into a carrion nest for larvae. Cross-fostering experiments further revealed that No Care larvae performed better on a carrion nest prepared by No Care parents than did Full Care larvae. We conclude that parents construct the nursery environment in relation to their effectiveness at supplying care directly, after offspring are born. When direct care is prevented entirely, they evolve to make compensatory adjustments to the nursery in which their young will develop. The rapid evolutionary change observed in our experiments suggests there is considerable standing genetic variation for parental care traits in natural burying beetle populations—for reasons that remain unclear.

Instability of Harems of Feral Horses in Relation To Season and Presence of Subordinate Stallions

Behaviour ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 112 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 149-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Franke Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Lifetime Reproductive Success ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Island Population ◽  
Single Male ◽  
Seasonal Differences ◽  
Feral Horses ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Abundance And Distribution

AbstractMale horses (Equus caballus) defend harems of females (bands) year-round and throughout their lifetimes. A male's lifetime reproductive success depends upon the number of females in his harem. Although harems have previously been reported as remaining stable over many years, during the two years of this study 30 % of the adult females in an island population of feral horses changed harems during late winter. The seasonal differences in harem stability resulted from seasonal differences in the abundance and distribution of food. The spacing between band members was greater and the frequency of social interactions between them was lower in winter than in summer. In addition, the amount of time devoted to grazing increased in winter. These differences are attributed to the lower availability of suitable vegetation duirng winter. Harem stability did not depend on the age of females, the size of the harem, nor the age of the harem stallion, but did depend on the presence of subordinate stallions attached to the band. All of the females that changed bands left single-male bands; multi-male bands were stable throughout the study.

scholarly journals The effect of size and sex ratio experiences on reproductive competition in Nicrophorus vespilloides burying beetles in the wild

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 541-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. E. Hopwood ◽  
A. J. Moore ◽  
T. Tregenza ◽  
N. J. Royle
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Reproductive Competition ◽  
Burying Beetles ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides ◽  
In The Wild
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