non-sibling egg cannibalism

Non-sibling egg cannibalism is prevalent phenomenon among aphidophagous ladybird beetles, but what benefits will it bring to cannibals under the nutrition deficiency conditions has not been well evaluated. Moreover, eggs from different oviposition age and different post-laying development periods might have different quality, but whether the cannibals obtained different benefits were still not clear. Here, non-sibling eggs with two-factor design (maternal oviposition age (young, middle or old) and in vitro development stages of eggs <i>per se </i>(fresh, incubated for 1 or 2 days)) were provided as the meal for <i>Harmonia axyridis</i> neonate larvae, and, after that, the 2nd instar larvae were continuously reared with artificial diet until pupation.