Plasticity in juvenile hormone in male burying beetles during breeding: physiological consequences of the loss of a mate.
Burying beetles, Nicrophorus orbicollis, have facultative biparental care. They bury and prepare small vertebrate carcasses that provide food for their young. Here we establish the juvenile hormone (JH) profiles of paired females, paired males and single males and investigate some of the environmental and social factors that may affect these profiles. Before larvae hatch JH profiles of paired males and females were similar. However, after larvae hatch and during brood care, JH titers of females were very high and those of single males were significantly higher than those of paired males. We tested the hypothesis that higher JH was a response to the need for increased parental care by manipulating brood size. Although JH titers of single males caring for small versus large broods were not significantly different, when comparing JH titers and larval growth (a measure of parental effort), a significant positive correlation emerged. In contrast, we found that food quality had no effect on JH levels suggesting that increased feeding by males and females after carcass discovery cannot explain the elevation of JH. The regulation of JH in male burying beetles appears thus to be dependent on the presence of a mate and on critical stimuli from young.
Department of Zoology, University of New Hampshire, Rudman Hall, Durham, NH 03824-2617, USA. panaitof@cisunix.unh.edu
S Carmen
SC
Panaitof
Michelle Pellissier
MP
Scott
David W
DW
Borst
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007605:Juvenile Hormones / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D010152:Pair Bond; D010332:Paternal Behavior; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*
D007605:Juvenile Hormones