Physiological trade-offs between flight muscle and reproductive development in the wing-dimorphic cricket Velarifictorus ornatus

Abstract

Morphology, flight muscles, and reproductive development were compared between long-winged (LW) and short-winged (SW) morphs of the cricket Velarifictorus ornatus (Shiraki) (Orthoptera: Gryllidae). There was no difference in body weight and pre-oviposition between the two morphs, but LW individuals had better-developed flight muscles than SW individuals during and after emergence of the adult. The flight muscles at adult emergence represented 11.9% of the total body weight in the LW female and 4.9% in the SW female. In addition, the weight of the flight muscle of LW females increased by 50% during the first 5 days, whereas the flight muscle of the SW variant increased only slightly after adult emergence. The process of oviposition in LW, SW, and de-alated females varied: SW females produced more eggs at the early stage than LW females, but de-alation could shorten the time until the peak of egg laying and caused histolysis of flight muscles of LW females. There was no significant difference in total egg production between the above three groups. In the male, unlike the female, the accessory glands of the two wing morphs enlarged continuously at the same rate. There was no difference between the two wing morphs in the mass of the testes during the first 7 days after adult emergence.