Surrounding pathogens shape maternal egg care but not egg production in the European earwig

Pathogens are ubiquitous in nature and typically entail major fitness costs in their hosts. These costs can be particularly important when individuals exhibit poor immune defenses, as it is often the case during early developmental stages. Hence, selection should favor parental strategies limiting the risks of pathogen exposure and infection in their offspring. In this study, we investigated 1) whether females of the European earwig Forficula auricularia avoid areas contaminated with spores of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium brunneum prior to and at egg laying, as well as 2) whether spore presence entails an increase in females’ investment into both pre-hatching forms of care and clutch quantity and quality. Our results first show that females did not avoid contaminated areas prior to and at egg laying. However, females returned to their eggs faster in presence of living spores compared to UV-killed or no spores. They were also more likely to construct a nest when in presence of...

病原体（Pathogens）在自然界中广泛分布，且通常会给宿主带来显著的适合度代价。当个体免疫防御能力不足时，这类代价尤为凸显，而发育早期阶段恰恰是免疫防御薄弱的常见时期。因此，自然选择应会青睐那些能够降低子代暴露于病原体并遭受感染风险的亲本抚育策略。本研究开展了两项探究：其一，欧洲蠼螋（Forficula auricularia）的雌虫是否会在产卵前及产卵期间，避开被昆虫病原真菌（entomopathogenic fungus）绿僵菌（Metarhizium brunneum）孢子污染的区域；其二，孢子的存在是否会提升雌虫在孵化前抚育行为以及卵块数量与质量方面的投入。研究结果首先显示，雌虫在产卵前及产卵期间并未避开污染区域。但相较于紫外线灭活孢子组与无孢子对照组，雌虫在存活孢子存在的环境中返回卵块的速度更快。此外，当存在……时，雌虫更倾向于构筑巢穴。