Forrest T G
Department of Entomology, University of Florida, 32611, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Oecologia. 1987 Sep;73(2):178-184. doi: 10.1007/BF00377505.
Insect size tactics or developmental strategies are discussed in relation to decisions individuals make about when to mature. Such decisions carry with them costs and benefits in terms of that individual's reproductive success. Whenever size affects fitness, selection should act such that individuals evaluate the costs and benefits due to changes in size and should mature when the ratio of benefit to cost is maximized.Predictions about seasonal changes in adult sizes within a population are tested on two species of mole cricket, Scapteriscus acletus and vicinus. Specifically, individuals maturing in the fall should be larger than average because there is no cost associated with delayed reproduction since reproduction occurs only during spring months. Smaller than average individuals should remain in juvenile stages and get larger before reproducing. Also it is predicted that as the spring reproductive season progresses a greater proportion of smaller individuals should mature because the costs due to delaying reproduction increase. The changes in seasonal distribution of adult sizes of mole crickets support the predictions and suggest that individuals make decisions about when to mature based on costs and benefits associated with changes in size.
本文讨论了昆虫的体型策略或发育策略与个体何时成熟的决策之间的关系。就个体的繁殖成功率而言，这些决策伴随着成本和收益。只要体型影响适合度，选择就应促使个体评估因体型变化而产生的成本和收益，并应在收益成本比最大化时成熟。关于种群内成虫体型季节性变化的预测，在两种蝼蛄（Scapteriscus acletus和vicinus）上进行了测试。具体而言，秋季成熟的个体应该比平均体型大，因为延迟繁殖没有成本，因为繁殖只发生在春季。比平均体型小的个体应该停留在幼体阶段，在繁殖前长得更大。此外，预计随着春季繁殖季节的推进，会有更大比例的较小个体成熟，因为延迟繁殖的成本会增加。蝼蛄成虫体型季节性分布的变化支持了这些预测，并表明个体根据与体型变化相关的成本和收益来决定何时成熟。
