A chemical signal of offspring quality affects maternal care in a social insect

Begging signals of offspring are condition-dependent cues that are usually predicted to display information about the short-term need (i.e. hunger) to which parents respond by allocating more food. However, recent models and experiments have revealed that parents, depending on the species and contex...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2009-08, Vol.276 (1668), p.2847-2853
Main Authors: Mas, Flore, Haynes, Kenneth F., Kölliker, Mathias
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Communication
Animals
Begging Signal
Chemical Communication
Chemicals
Cuticular Hydrocarbons
Feeding Behavior
Female
Female animals
Food
Food security
Forficula auricularia
Hydrocarbons
Insect behavior
Insect brood
Insecta - physiology
Maternal Behavior
Mothers
Nymph
Nymphs
Parent-Offspring Conflict
Pheromones
Signal Of Quality
Social insects
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Summary:Begging signals of offspring are condition-dependent cues that are usually predicted to display information about the short-term need (i.e. hunger) to which parents respond by allocating more food. However, recent models and experiments have revealed that parents, depending on the species and context, may respond to signals of quality (i.e. offspring reproductive value) rather than need. Despite the critical importance of this distinction for life history and conflict resolution theory, there is still limited knowledge of alternative functions of offspring signals. In this study, we investigated the communication between offspring and caring females of the common earwig, Forficula auricularia, hypothesizing that offspring chemical cues display information about nutritional condition to which females respond in terms of maternal food provisioning. Consistent with the prediction for a signal of quality we found that mothers exposed to chemical cues from well-fed nymphs foraged significantly more and allocated food to more nymphs compared with females exposed to solvent (control) or chemical cues from poorly fed nymphs. Chemical analysis revealed significant differences in the relative quantities of specific cuticular hydrocarbon compounds between treatments. To our knowledge, this study demonstrates for the first time that an offspring chemical signal reflects nutritional quality and influences maternal care.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
1471-2945
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2009.0498