Age-dependent changes in reproductive allocation in a facultative ectoparasite, the blowfly Lucilia sericata (Meigen) (Calliphoridae)

Organisms trade-off limited resources between life-history traits to maximize fitness. In particular, costs associated with reproduction are balanced against somatic maintenance and this can result in age-dependent changes in the optimal allocation of resource to reproduction. Changes in the allocation of resources to reproduction with age were considered in the facultatively parasitic blowfly Lucilia sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae), using biochemical analysis of lipids in the body and ovary, and lipid and protein in individual eggs. Resource allocation to reproduction, measured as lipid content in the ovary, declined over time. This decline was associated with the production of fewer and smaller eggs per batch. The lipid content of the residual body did not change. A decrease in lipid and increase in protein contents of individual eggs over time, although statistically significant, were relatively slight, suggesting that age-related changes in nutritional allocation to individual eggs were more subtle than changes in egg batch number or size. This study highlights the insights to be gained from considering both biochemical measures of nutritional allocation, and observable measures of reproductive effort, when evaluating how females balance allocation across competing life-history traits. Future work should explore how allocation patterns might vary under conditions of resource constraint and whether age-dependent allocation in laboratory flies is representative of that found in wild populations.