Reproductive potential predicts longevity of female Mediterranean fruitflies

Reproduction exacts a price in terms of decreased survival. Our analysis of the interplay between age patterns of fecundity and mortality for individual female medflies (Ceratitis capitata) revealed that individual mortality is associated with the time-dynamics of the egg-laying trajectory. In a sam...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2001-03, Vol.268 (1466), p.445-450
Main Authors: Müller, Hans-George, Carey, James R., Wu, Deqing, Liedo, Pablo, Vaupel, James W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal reproduction
Animals
Bootstrap
Ceratitis capitata
Depletion Of Eggs
Diptera - physiology
Egg-Laying Trajectory
Eggs
Exhaustion
Fecundity
Female
Fertility
Fruit flies
Life span
Longevity
Modelling
Models, Biological
Mortality
Oviposition
Reproduction
Reproductive Clock
Tephritidae
Trajectories
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Summary:Reproduction exacts a price in terms of decreased survival. Our analysis of the interplay between age patterns of fecundity and mortality for individual female medflies (Ceratitis capitata) revealed that individual mortality is associated with the time-dynamics of the egg-laying trajectory. In a sample of 531 medflies, we found that each individual has a characteristic rate of decline in egg laying with age. This defines an individual's rate of reproductive exhaustion. This rate was shown to predict subsequent mortality. The larger the remaining reproductive potential, the lower the subsequent mortality. An increased mortality risk was seen in flies for which egg production declined rapidly early on, irrespective of the level of egg production. Thus, reproductive potential and lifetime are coupled in such a way that those flies which are able to profit most from an extended life span in terms of increased egg output are indeed likely to live longer.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2000.1370