On the relationship between food, reproduction and survival of two carabid beetles: Calathus melanocephalus and Pterostichus versicolor

Abstract

Abstract. The relative influences of temperature and availability of food on reproduction, survival and growth of all developmental stages of two carabid beetle species are discussed with special reference to the suggested relationship between availability of food, size of egg production and survival of adults from one breeding season to the next. Temperature as well as food supply influence the length of larval growth and adult body size. Beetles grown at low temperatures and low amounts of food are smaller than those grown at higher temperature and with more food. The number of eggs laid per female was correlated with the amount of food gathered. There was no inverse relationship (trade‐off) between reproductive output and survival in the field until the next breeding season. In 1980 no significant relationship was found between winter mortality and the amounts of food gathered by beetles in the period after reproduction and before winter diapause. However, in 1981 in C. melanocephalus a lower number of starved beetles survived the winter than the fed ones and‘field’beetles. Only in the first part of the feeding activity period in autumn can enough food be gathered by C.melunocephalus for successful hibernation. In the second part of this period there is not enough food to build up the fat reserves needed to survive the winter. Difference in population fluctuations of both species are discussed in relation to their life histories.