Abstract
In the southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula (L.), size, measured as the width across the pronotum, was positively correlated with four fitness components: longevity, fecundity, rate of development, and mating success. In addition, earlier studies have shown that size is positively correlated with egg size (influencing progeny survival), egg hatch rate, and success in sperm competition. Of the fitness components examined, only parasitization by the tachinid fly, Trichopoda pennipes, did not select for larger size. Significant heritability for size is nonexistent in a natural population in southern Georgia, suggesting that additive genetic variation has been exhausted through directional selection. Standardized selection differentials suggest that the intensity of directional selection for greater size derives primarily from the effects of size on fecundity in females, rate of development in both sexes, and sperm precedence in males.
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