Presentation Details
| Indirect maternal care in Gryllodes sigillatus Katy E.Takumi, Ned A.Dochtermann. North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, USA |
Abstract
Parental care behaviors are seen in many species and can present in various ways. Behaviors are generally classified as parental care when they improve the growth or survival of offspring at the cost of the parent’s survival or reproductive opportunities. Our understanding of parental care is, however, not generalizable. The majority of research into parental care is focused on vertebrate species but they represent less than 5% of animal species. If we shift our understanding of parental care, we would see that invertebrates quite commonly exhibit parental care behaviors. Crickets, despite having non-overlapping generations, still have opportunities for parental care. This includes choosing ovipositing locations that increase offspring fitness. Here, we allowed tropical house crickets (Gryllodes sigillatus) the choice to oviposit in different substrates of varying quality. Our results show complicated patterns of parental care and the potential for evolutionary responses as there were genetic contributions to oviposition preference. This study demonstrates that the understanding of parental care is lacking and may be common in a variety of taxa, including other invertebrates.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
Content Locked. Log into a registered attendee account to access this presentation.