Reproductive value in a complex life cycle: heat tolerance of the pitcher‐plant mosquito, Wyeomyia smithii

Because mortality accumulates with age, Fisher proposed that the strength of selection acting on survival should increase from birth up to the age of first reproduction. Hamilton later theorized that the strength of selection acting on survival should not change from birth to age at first reproducti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of evolutionary biology 2005-01, Vol.18 (1), p.101-105
Main Authors: Zani, P. A., Cohnstaedt, L. W., Corbin, D., Bradshaw, W. E., Holzapfel, C. M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Physiological
Animal reproduction
Animals
Biological Evolution
complex life cycles
Culicidae
Evolutionary biology
evolutionary physiology
Female
heat stress
Hot Temperature
Insects
life stages
Male
mosquitoes
Reproduction
Survival
thermotolerance
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Summary:Because mortality accumulates with age, Fisher proposed that the strength of selection acting on survival should increase from birth up to the age of first reproduction. Hamilton later theorized that the strength of selection acting on survival should not change from birth to age at first reproduction. As organisms in nature do not live in uniform environments but, rather, experience periodic stress, we hypothesized that resistance to environmental stress should increase (Fisher) or remain constant (Hamilton) from birth to age at first reproduction. Using the pitcher‐plant mosquito, Wyeomyia smithii, we imposed heat stress by simulating the passage of a warm‐weather front at different preadult and adult stages. Contrary to either Fisher or Hamilton, stress tolerance declined from embryos to larvae to pupae to adults. Consequently, reproductive value appears to have been of little consequence in the evolution of stage‐specific tolerance of heat stress in W. smithii.
ISSN:1010-061X
1420-9101
DOI:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2004.00793.x