Nutrition during sexual maturation affects competitive ability but not reproductive productivity in burying beetles

1. Food availability can be unpredictable. When food becomes more abundant following a period of low food availability, developing larvae or juveniles often allocate resources preferentially towards increasing growth. This has important long-term effects on adult phenotypes and longevity. Despite the importance of strategic resource allocation during early development, few studies have examined how changes in resource availability during other windows of development affect reproductive strategies and fitness independent of growth. 2. We manipulated food availability in a burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides, during a subadult period of sexual maturation when individuals cannot increase structural size but are still undergoing reproductive maturation. 3. In contrast to the trade-offs during larval or juvenile growth, beetles that experienced delayed feeding during reproductive maturation allocated resources preferentially towards maintaining both reproductive function and longevity. ...