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 per se (fresh, incubated for 1
or 2 days)) were provided as the meal for Harmonia axyridis neonate
larvae, and, after that, the 2nd instar larvae were continuously reared with
artificial diet until pupation.