ABS 2023
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�Fitness effects of alternative resource allocation strategies in female bean beetles
Katina N. Lucas, Lia Romanotto, Flavia Barbosa. Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, Illinois, United States

Trade-offs are a central concept to life-history theory, arising due to differential trait investment within an organism. In the bean beetle Callosobruchus maculatus, larval density induces differential resource allocation into wings and gonads, and females reared under high densities also invest more in early-life egg production. Here we tested the hypothesis that early life oviposition is an adaptive life history strategy that emerges in response to density levels. We employed density manipulations in the egg and larval stages to generate individuals with different allocation strategies. We then measured the effects of density in different female reproductive traits: lifespan, lifetime fitness and reproductive investment at different time points of the adult stage. Contrary to our hypothesis, females from both low and high densities had the same average lifespan and lifetime fitness, with females reared under both densities laying more eggs earlier in life and tapering off near the end. For future experiments, high density female oviposition will be tested with limited and unlimited oviposition substrate to compare fitness under different environments.