Life-history Consequences of Body-size Variation in the Milkweed Leaf Beetle, Labidomera clivicollis (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Abstract

Adult body size of milkweed leaf beetles, Labidomera clivicollis rogersii (LeConte), varied greatly among beetles given different amounts of food in the last larval stadium. Larger females laid approximately twice as many eggs as did smaller females, regardless of whether they reproduced before or after diapause, or were maintained on unlimited or limited regimens of food availability. Age at first reproduction was significantly delayed among smaller females when adults were maintained on the limited food regimen. Eggs from larger females were heavier and resulted in higher larval survivorship to pupation than eggs from smaller females. Larger adult beetles survived total starvation nearly twice as long as smaller beetles, but adult size had no consistent effects on survival through summer or winter in outdoor cages.