Body condition but not dietary restriction prolongs lifespan in a semelparous capital breeder
- 10 June 2009
- journal article
- Published by The Royal Society in Biology Letters
- Vol. 5 (5), 636-638
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2009.0335
Abstract
Effects of diet on longevity are complex because acquired resources are shared among growth, reproduction and somatic maintenance. We simplify these axes by examining how dietary restriction and competitive contexts affect longevity using semelparous males of the Australian redback spider ( Latrodectus hasselti ). Plastic development of L. hasselti males results in trade-offs of body condition against faster development if females are present, facilitating scramble competition. In the absence of females, males develop slowly as high body condition adults, and are better equipped for mate searching. Here we focus on effects of diet and competitive context on body condition and longevity. Although male survival depended on body condition and exercise, contrary to studies in a wide range of taxa, dietary restriction did not increase longevity. However, there was an interactive effect of diet and competitive context on lifespan, because high-diet males reared in the absence of females lived longer than males reared in the presence of females. Thus males near females pay a survival cost of developing rapidly. This shows that life-history trade-offs affected by competitive context can impose longevity costs independent of the direct energy expenditure of searching, courtship, competition or reproduction.This publication has 26 references indexed in Scilit:
- A change in competitive context reverses sexual selection on male sizeJournal of Evolutionary Biology, 2009
- Dietary restriction in rodents—delayed or retarded ageing?Mechanisms of Ageing and Development, 2005
- Overview of caloric restriction and ageingMechanisms of Ageing and Development, 2005
- Multiple sperm storage organs facilitate female control of paternityProceedings. Biological sciences, 2005
- Sex and Death: What Is the Connection?Cell, 2005
- EVOLUTIONARY AND MECHANISTIC THEORIES OF AGINGAnnual Review of Entomology, 2005
- High-quality male field crickets invest heavily in sexual display but die youngNature, 2004
- CALORIE RESTRICTION AND AGING: A LIFE-HISTORY ANALYSISEvolution, 2000
- Viability costs of condition-dependent sexual male display in a drumming wolf spiderProceedings. Biological sciences, 1996
- Effects of food deprivation onLatrodectus hasseltiThorell (Araneae: Theridiidae), the Australian redback spiderNew Zealand Journal of Zoology, 1989