Meeting Abstract
Animals are often less successful in acquiring food resources as juveniles than as adults even though nutrition plays a critical role in juvenile development and survival. Juveniles without fully developed mouthparts or other feeding morphology may thus suffer nutritional limitations that can only be overcome when an adult is present in the local environment. Here we examine the morphological development of juvenile leaf-footed cactus bugs, Narnia femorata (Hemiptera: Coreidae), in environments with and without adults present. This species does not exhibit parental care, yet juveniles may experience a feeding trait limitation as their piercing-sucking mouthparts are much smaller than those of adults. We hypothesize that juveniles benefit from the presence of adult conspecifics by reusing the semi-permanent “feeding holes” the adults create, thus overcoming their own limited ability to pierce fruit. These nutritional resources may also impact the morphological development of juvenile mouthparts, which are known to be highly plastic. To investigate this hypothesis, we raised juvenile leaf-footed bugs in groups containing either an unrelated adult or no adult. We monitored the survival rates of each group and took body and mouthpart measurements after the juveniles became adults. Our study aids in our understanding of the impacts of social factors on animal development and the strategies juvenile animals use to overcome environmental challenges.
