Seasonal effects on offspring reproductive traits through maternal oviposition behavior

Abstract

Offspring phenotypes are often influenced by natal habitats, and these locations are commonly determined by mothers. The location where mothers leave their offspring may have different implications for offspring at different times of the year due to seasonal changes in the quality of resources available. Such dynamic effects of maternal behaviors for offspring are only beginning to be explored. I examined the changing effects of oviposition sites for adult offspring mating behaviors and fecundity in the heliconia bug, Leptoscelis tricolor (Hemiptera: Coreidae). Female heliconia bugs lay eggs on multiple heliconia plant species, and offspring grow and develop on the plant where they hatch. I found that the host plant species where offspring are raised influenced mating probability, expression of copulatory courtship behaviors, and fecundity. Moreover, the effects of the different plant species on daughter reproductive traits shifted and even reversed over time, and the changes parallel seasonal changes in plant resources. These results demonstrate that seasonal changes can affect the implications of maternal behaviors for offspring phenotypes.