Alternative Life History Patterns in Risky Environments: An Example from Lacebugs

Abstract

In the 1960s and early 70s the evolution of life history patterns among organisms received a great deal of attention (reviewed by Stearns 1976). Theoretical explanations of life histories often treated observed patterns as products of single, causal systems. Three different though nonexclusive theories emerged: (1) the deterministic view based on the predictions of Mac Arthur and Wilson’s (1967) r- and K-selection, (2) the bethedging hypothesis organized by Stearns (1976) from the stochastic models of Murphy (1968) and Schaffer (1974), and (3) the balanced-mortality hypothesis, so termed by Price (1974).