Parental care buffers against effects of ambient temperature on offspring performance in an insect

Understanding how animals respond to and cope with variation in ambient temperature is an important priority. The reason for this is that ambient temperature is a key component of the physical environment that influences offspring performance in a wide range of ectotherms and endotherms. Here, we investigate whether post-hatching parental care provides a behavioral mechanism for buffering against the effects of ambient temperature on offspring in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. We used a 3×2 factorial design where we manipulated ambient temperature (15, 20 or 25°C) and parental care (presence or absence of a female parent after hatching). We found that the effect of ambient temperature on offspring performance was conditional upon the presence or absence of a caring female. Fewer larvae survived in the absence than in the presence of a caring female at 15°C whilst there was no difference in larval survival at 20 and 25°C. Our results show that parental care buffers against ...探究动物如何响应并适应环境温度波动是一项重要的研究重点。究其原因，环境温度是物理环境的核心组成部分，会对众多变温动物（ectotherms）与恒温动物（endotherms）的后代表现产生影响。本研究以斑埋葬甲（Nicrophorus vespilloides）为对象，探究孵化后的双亲抚育是否能作为一种行为机制，缓解环境温度对后代的影响。我们采用3×2因子设计，对环境温度（15℃、20℃或25℃）以及孵化后雌性亲代的抚育与否进行操控。研究结果显示，环境温度对后代表现的影响取决于雌性亲代是否存在抚育行为：在15℃环境下，无雌性亲代抚育时的幼虫存活率显著低于有抚育的情况；而在20℃与25℃环境下，幼虫存活率无显著差异。本研究结果表明，双亲抚育能够缓解……