title: Biparental care is predominant and beneficial to parents in the burying beetleNicrophorus orbicollis(Coleoptera: Silphidae).
abstract: Parenting strategies can be flexible within a species, and may have varying fitness effects. Understanding this flexibility and its fitness consequences is important for understanding why parenting strategies evolve. Here, we investigate the fitness consequences of flexible parenting in the burying beetleNicrophorus orbicollis, a species known for its advanced provisioning behaviour of regurgitated vertebrate carrion to offspring by both sexes. We show that even when a parent is freely allowed to abandon the carcass at any point in time, biparental post-hatching care is the most common pattern of care adopted inN. orbicollis. Furthermore, two parents together raised more offspring than single parents of either sex, showing that the presence of the male can directly influences parental fitness even in the absence of competitors. This contrasts with studies in other species of burying beetle, where biparental families do not differ in offspring number. This may explain why biparental care is more common inN. orbicollisthan in other burying beetles. We suggest how fitness benefits of two parents may play a role in the evolution and maintenance of flexible biparental care inN. orbicollis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Kyle M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Benowitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Allen J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Moore
keywords: behavioural flexibility; biparental care; offspring performance; parental care; plasticity