Bigger is not always better, but it helps, says new research on beetles

Date:

April 29, 2014

Source:

University of Exeter

Summary:

The probability of a burying beetle winning fights, for the small animal carcasses it needs, depends on a combination of early life experiences and the competition it faces as an adult. These beetles use small dead animals, such as mice and songbirds, to provide food for their young and competition for a carcass can be fierce.

Continued

Beetles eat greedy offspring Edinburgh University research finds

Burying beetles occasionally punish young who nag for food by eating those who pester them most, according to Edinburgh University research.

It encourages the larvae to plead more honestly according to how hungry they are and not try to outdo their siblings by pestering their mother for food.

It also helps the mother beetle to maintain a degree of control over how she feeds her squabbling offspring.

Cannibalism is also used by parents when food is in short supply.

Burying beetle larvae pester for food by touching the parent's mouths with their legs. Parent beetles then feed their young by regurgitating pre-digested flesh.

The Edinburgh University team gave mothers large foster families to find out if they were more likely to cannibalise offspring that begged most for food.

Researchers also examined whether mothers could control how food was shared between older and younger offspring.

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Burying beetles: Older males 'make better dads'

Mature males make "better" fathers in burying beetles, a study suggests.

Researchers found older males work harder at parental care and mating compared with younger males.

Older males also maintained their parenting efforts when they were uncertain of their paternity, whereas younger males decreased their activity.

Details of the Exeter University team's findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The research provides new evidence for the theory that older male animals, having less chance of reproducing again, invest more in parental care.

A beetle's world

"One of the biggest puzzles... we're trying to figure out in evolutionary biology is why males care for offspring that aren't their own," said Dr Megan Head from the University of Exeter, explaining why the research team carried out the study.

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