G. Sorci et J. Clobert, EFFECTS OF MATERNAL PARASITE LOAD ON OFFSPRING LIFE-HISTORY TRAITS INTHE COMMON LIZARD (LACERTA-VIVIPARA), Journal of evolutionary biology, 8(6), 1995, pp. 711-723
We studied the effect of maternal ectoparasite load (measured at partu
rition) on the life-history traits of the offspring of the host Lacert
a vivipara, the European common lizard. The ectoparasite, a mite belon
ging to the family Laelapidae, had a detrimental effect on its host: p
arasite load was associated with increased host mortality, and was neg
atively correlated with host body mass. Parasite load was persistent o
ver time, suggesting that parasite load can be predictable. Offspring
of highly parasitised mothers had higher values of several fitness com
ponents early in life than offspring of parasite-free mothers or light
ly infested mothers. This was expressed in terms of increased F-1 year
ling growth rate, and reproductive investment at first reproduction (m
easured as F-2 hatchling mass). These results are interpreted as a hos
t adaptation to attenuate the impact of parasites. Indeed, if high par
asite loads arise from long exposure time to a constant population of
parasites, and if the negative effects of parasites are additive over
time, hosts could reduce the impact of parasites simply by investing m
ore during the earlier stages of life. Naturally, having better perfor
mance early in life should lead to higher mortality rates and/or lower
fecundity later in life.