Individual growth trajectories

The collembolans are maintained in the laboratory in polyethylene vials (diameter 52mm, height 65mm) filled with a 30 mm width layer of a plaster of Paris mixed with Indian ink to facilitate detection of the individuals. Food is provided weekly in the form of small dried pellets of a mixture of agar and dried yeast in standardized concentration and volume (Tully and Ferrière, 2008). The rearing boxes are maintained in incubators at 21+/-0.5°C and the plaster is kept wet to have a constant humidity within the boxes (~100% RH). We monitored 220 isolated individuals and regularly measured their body size and fecundity (clutch sizes).

本实验所用弹尾虫（Collembolans）均于实验室环境下饲养于聚乙烯小瓶（直径52mm，高度65mm）中，瓶内铺设有厚度30mm的熟石膏与印度墨汁混合基质，以便于个体的识别与观测。
饲料每周投喂一次，采用经标准化浓度与体积配置的琼脂与干酵母混合干燥小颗粒（Tully与Ferrière, 2008）。
所有饲养容器均放置于温度控制为21±0.5℃的恒温培养箱内，同时保持基质湿润以维持容器内恒定湿度（相对湿度约100% RH）。
本研究共监测220只单独饲养的个体，并定期测定其体型大小与繁殖力（每窝产卵量）。