Multifaceted parental niche construction buffers microbial and competitive challenges and drives offspring dependence in burying beetles
Using the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides, we investigated how parents jointly modify chemical and microbial properties of vertebrate carcasses, a highly contested resource on which the beetle?s larvae develop. We show that under natural microbial and competitive conditions, pre-hatch parental care enhances larval survival and growth, alters cadaveric volatile emissions, and reduces carcass attractiveness to competitors.
Using the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides, we investigated how parents jointly modify chemical and microbial properties of vertebrate carcasses, a highly contested resource on which the beetle?s larvae develop. We show that under natural microbial and competitive conditions, pre-hatch parental care enhances larval survival and growth, alters cadaveric volatile emissions, and reduces carcass attractiveness to competitors.
University of Bayreuth