Meeting Abstract
Life history strategies are characterized by different prioritizations of resource allocation between life history traits including growth, reproduction, activity and somatic maintenance. One’s life history strategy is plastic and can shift within and between life stages. Identifying the mechanisms of plasticity in life history tactics is a central issue in the study of life history evolution. The variable field cricket (Gryllus lineaticeps) is wing polymorphic; new adults will either have long or short wings along with nonfunctional or functional flight muscles. Maintenance of functional flight muscles trades-off with investment in reproduction. Prior to reaching reproductive maturity, if present, functional muscles must undergo histolysis and become nonfunctional. Here we sought to establish the timeline across which G. lineaticeps shift allocation of resources between flight capability (muscle size and status) and reproduction (gonad size) in both male and female, long and short wing adults aged between one and nine days old. While about half of female and male short wings had functional flight muscles on adult day one, by day three, functional muscles were rarely observed, suggesting rapid histolysis in this morph. Most long winged males maintain functional flight muscles until day nine but only half of the long winged females had functional flight muscles at day five. Finally, male gonad mass did not vary with morph or age, while the gonad mass of long wing and short wing females peaked at day seven. Overall, this data sets the stage for further exploration of potential environmental and physiological factors that affect life history tactic plasticity in G. lineaticeps.
