Reproductive allocation in Nicrophorus maliger and Nicrophorus guttula

Abstract: The cost of reproduction hypothesis suggests that allocation to current reproduction constrains future reproduction. How organisms accrue reproductive costs and allocate energy across their lifetime may differ among species adapted to different resource types. We test this by comparing lifetime reproductive output, patterns of reproductive allocation, and senescence between two species of burying beetles, Nicrophorus marginatus and N. guttula, that differ in body size, across a range of carcass sizes. These two species of burying beetles maximized lifetime reproductive output on somewhat different–sized resources. The larger N. marginatus did better on large and medium carcasses while the smaller N. guttula did best on small and medium carcasses. For both species, reproduction is costly and reproduction on larger carcasses reduced lifespan more than reproduction on smaller carcasses. Carcass size also affected lifetime reproductive strategies. Each species’ parental investment...