Data from: 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. 4. In both sexes, delayed feeding beetles were much less successful in competition for carcasses. However, delayed feeding males and females provided similar amounts of parental care and did not differ in reproductive success or longevity. 5. These results indicate that the nutritional environment experienced during a key developmental window may be an important determinant of the expression of alternative reproductive strategies in adulthood, independent of body size.

1. 食物可获得性往往难以预测。当经历一段食物匮乏期后供应恢复充足时，发育中的幼虫或幼体通常会优先将资源分配给生长增殖。这一过程会对成虫的表型（phenotype）与寿命产生重要的长期影响。尽管早期发育阶段的战略性资源分配至关重要，但目前鲜有研究探讨：在发育的其他关键阶段，资源可获得性的变化如何在不依赖于生长的前提下，影响生物体的繁殖策略与适合度（fitness）。
2. 我们以埋葬甲（burying beetle，*Nicrophorus vespilloides*）为实验对象，在其亚成体性成熟阶段操控食物可获得性——该阶段个体无法再增加躯体尺寸，但仍处于生殖成熟进程中。
3. 与幼虫或幼体生长阶段的资源权衡（trade-off）不同，在生殖成熟阶段经历饲喂延迟的埋葬甲，会优先将资源分配给维持生殖功能与寿命。
4. 无论雌雄，饲喂延迟的个体在争夺尸体（carcass）资源时的成功率均显著更低。然而，饲喂延迟的雄性与雌性在育幼行为（parental care）上的投入量相近，且二者的繁殖成功率与寿命均无显著差异。
5. 上述结果表明，在关键发育窗口所处的营养环境，可能是成年个体替代繁殖策略（alternative reproductive strategies）表达的重要调控因子，且该效应不受躯体尺寸的影响。