Abstract
AbstractThe influence of adult body size and the male pronotal horn on phenotypic variation in offspring of the dung beetle Onthophagus binodis were examined in the laboratory. Female size predominantly determined the amount of dung provided to each brood mass, which had a significant influence on offspring survival. Large, horned males conferred a reproductive advantage to only large female parents through cooperation during brood mass production, increasing the average volume of their brood masses, offspring size, and the proportion of horned male progeny. Body size variation appears to have a large non‐genetic component, mainly influenced by the amount of dung provided to the larva. The male pronotal horn only developed on individuals with an elytron width greater than 3.6 mm, in response to the amount of dung provision in the brood mass.
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