EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY

Eur. J. Entomol. 103 (3): 559-568, 2006 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2006.076

Within and between species scaling in the weight, water, carbon and nitrogen contents of eggs and neonate larvae of twelve satyrine butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

Enrique GARCÍA-BARROS

Department of Biology (Zoology), Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain;

The fresh weight, dry weight, and C and N content of the eggs, egg shells and neonate larvae of several satyrines were measured. This was done in order to assess the specificity of the composition of the egg and larvae, the phylogenetic or ecological nature of the variation and the existence of structural constraints on the composition of the offspring. All the traits investigated were found to be highly species-specific. The nature of the variation was not primarily phylogenetic, suggesting that the composition of the offspring has an ecological meaning. However, only a slight association was detected between three life history traits or habitat features and the compositions of the eggs or larvae, namely: female egg dropping was associated with a high C content of the eggs, xerophily with a high C : N ratio, and a high content of N in the larvae with egg diapause. The evidence for intra-specific allometry between the traits investigated and egg weight varied among the species, suggesting that the slope of such relationship may be a specific feature. There was a close to isometric relationship between C and N contents in every species. Therefore simple C : N ratios are independent of egg size, hence they can be used directly in comparative studies. Across species analyses indicated that small offspring contained a proportionally low amount of carbon and had a high dry matter content, suggesting that selection for small eggs was accompanied by selection for an enhanced proportion of nitrogen per egg. Finally, the species with large adult females invested comparatively more nitrogen per egg, which indicates a potential, constraint-based advantage of large adult size.

Keywords: Allometry, carbon, chorion, egg, elemental-composition, larvae, Lepidoptera, nitrogen, Nymphalidae, reproduction, size

Received: November 9, 2005; Revised: February 27, 2006; Accepted: February 27, 2006; Published: July 3, 2006  Show citation