Lifetime allocation of juvenile and adult nutritional resources to egg production in a holometabolous insect

In holometabolous insects reproductive success is strongly determined by th e nutritional resources available to the females. In addition to nutrients derived from adult feeding, resources for egg production may come from the limited reserves accumulated during the larval stages. The pattern of alloc ation of these larval reserves to egg production is expected to be strongly linked to the nutritional ecology of the adult. We investigate the tempora l pattern of allocation of larval reserves to reproduction in a host-feedin g parasitoid wasp. As predicted by the dynamics of allocation of an adult m eal, larval reserves are the main source of nutrients for four or five days after emergence. However, despite the high frequency of host feeding and t he high nutrient content of a haemolymph meal, which we predicted would lea d to larval reserves being conserved in the event of host deprivation, larv al reserves contribute to egg production throughout the lifetime of the fem ale. We propose several mechanistic and adaptive explanations for our resul ts, including the possible existence of a limiting or key nutrient for egg production of exclusively larval origin. We make further predictions concer ning the pattern of allocation of larval resources in parasitoids with diff erent adult nutritional requirements.