The contingency of fitness: an analysis of food restriction on the macroptery-reproduction trade-off in crickets

Article

We examined the effect of food limitation on fitness trade-offs between macroptery and time spent calling in the wing-dimorphic cricket,Gryllus firmus. The results of previous studies have shown that, under optimal conditions, the proportionate time that males spend calling (with respect to neighbouring males) is directly associated with female attraction, and that micropterous (short-winged: SW) males call longer than macropterous (long-winged: LW) males (Crnokrak & Roff 1995,Animal Behaviour,50, 1475–1481). Because crickets were examined under optimal conditions, these studies did not attempt to address how or whether fitness trade-offs change with the environment. In the present study, we allowed crickets ad libitum access to water, but restricted food intake to the minimum amount that would keep them alive for 20 days.