title: Nutritional and non-nutritional food components modulate phenotypic variation but not physiological trade-offs in an insect.
abstract: Our understanding of how food modulates animal phenotypes and mediate trade-offs between life-history traits has benefited greatly from the study of combinations of nutritional and non-nutritional food components, such as plant secondary metabolites. We used a fruit fly pest, Anastrepha ludens, to examine phenotypic variation across larval, pupal and adult stages as a function of larval food with varying nutrient balance and content of chlorogenic acid, a secondary metabolite. Larval insects that fed on carbohydrate-biased diets relative to protein exhibited longer larval and pupal developmental periods, were often heavier as pupae and resisted desiccation and starvation for longer periods in the adult stage than insects fed on highly protein-biased diets. Except for a potential conflict between pupal development time and adult desiccation and starvation resistance, we did not detect physiological trade-offs mediated by the nutritional balance in larval food. Chlorogenic acid affected A. ludens development in a concentration and nutrient-dependent manner. Nutrients and host plant secondary metabolites in the larval diet induced changes in A. ludens phenotype and could influence fruit fly ecological interactions. We provide a unique experimental and modelling approach useful in generating predictive models of life history traits in a variety of organisms.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Red de Manejo Biorracional de Plagas y Vectores, Xalapa 91070, Veracruz, Mexico.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pascacio-Villafán
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Red de Manejo Biorracional de Plagas y Vectores, Xalapa 91070, Veracruz, Mexico.
authors.forename: Trevor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Red de Manejo Biorracional de Plagas y Vectores, Xalapa 91070, Veracruz, Mexico.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Birke
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Red de Manejo Biorracional de Plagas y Vectores, Xalapa 91070, Veracruz, Mexico.
authors.forename: Martín
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aluja
mesh_terms: D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D000073537:Biological Variation, Population / Q000502:physiology; D002726:Chlorogenic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D063427:Food Quality; D007814:Larva / Q000254:growth & development*; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D011679:Pupa / Q000254:growth & development*; D033621:Tephritidae / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D002726:Chlorogenic Acid