Data from: Interactions between ecological factors in the developmental environment modulate pupal and adult traits in a polyphagous fly

1. In holometabolous insects, adult fitness depends on the quantity and quality of resource acquired at the larval stage. Diverse ecological factors can influence larval resource acquisition, but little is known about how these factors in the larval environment interact to modulate larval development and adult traits.
2. Here, we addressed this gap by considering how key ecological factors of larval density, diet nutritional composition, and microbial growth interact to modulate pupal and adult traits in a polyphagous tephritid fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (aka 'Queensland fruit fly').
3. Larvae were allowed to develop at two larval densities (low and high), on diets that were protein-rich, standard, or sugar-rich and prepared with or without preservatives to inhibit or encourage microbial growth, respectively.
4. Percentage of adult emergence and adult sex ratio were not affected by the interaction between diet composition, larval density and preservative treatments, although low preservative content increased adult emergence in sugar-rich diets but decreased adult emergence in protein-rich and standard diets.
5. Pupal weight, male and female adult dry weight, and female (but not male) body energetic reserves were affected by a strong three-way interaction between diet composition, larval density and preservative treatment, whereby in general, low preservative content increased pupal weight and female lipid storage in sugar-rich diets particularly at low-larval density, and differentially modulated the decrease in adult body weight caused by larval density across diets.
6. Our findings provide insights into the ecological factors modulating larval development of a polyphagous fly species, and shed light into the ecological complexity of the larval developmental environment in frugivorous insects.

Usage Notes
Nguyenetal_raw_data_EcolandEvolCompressed file containing the raw data for: 1) Pupal weight, 2) Adult weight and percentage of lipid, 3) Adult emergence and sex ratio.

在完全变态昆虫中，成虫的适应性取决于其在幼虫阶段的资源获取量与质量。众多生态因素能够影响幼虫的资源获取，然而关于这些因素在幼虫环境中如何相互作用以调节幼虫发育和成虫性状的知识却鲜为人知。
在此，我们通过考虑幼虫密度、饮食营养组成和微生物生长等关键生态因素如何相互作用来调节多食性实蝇属果蝇（Bactrocera tryoni，亦称‘昆士兰果蝇’）的蛹和成虫性状，从而填补了这一研究空白。
幼虫在两种幼虫密度（低密度和高密度）下发育，饮食富含蛋白质、标准或富含糖分，并分别添加或不添加防腐剂以抑制或促进微生物生长。
成虫出现率和成虫性别比例未受饮食组成、幼虫密度和防腐剂处理的相互作用影响，尽管低防腐剂含量在富含糖分的饮食中增加了成虫出现率，但在富含蛋白质和标准饮食中却降低了成虫出现率。
蛹重、雄性和雌性成虫的干重以及雌性（而非雄性）的身体能量储备受到饮食组成、幼虫密度和防腐剂处理之间强烈的三重交互作用的影响，其中在一般情况下，低防腐剂含量在富含糖分的饮食中尤其是在低幼虫密度下增加了蛹重和雌性脂肪储存，并不同程度上调节了因幼虫密度引起的成虫体重下降。
我们的研究结果为多食性蝇种幼虫发育的生态调节因素提供了洞见，并揭示了食果昆虫幼虫发育环境的生态复杂性。

使用说明：Nguyenetal_raw_data_EcolandEvolCompressed 文件包含了以下原始数据的原始数据：1) 蛹重，2) 成虫重量和脂质百分比，3) 成虫出现率和性别比。