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14 May 2020 Intra- and Trans-Generational Phenotypic Responses of the Greater Wax Moth, Galleria mellonella, to a Low-Nutrition Larval Diet
Katariina Kangassalo, Jouni Sorvari, Ilkka Nousiainen, Mari Pölkki, Terhi M. Valtonen, Indrikis Krams, Markus J. Rantala
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Abstract

We investigated the intra- and trans-generational effects of larval diet on immune function, body size and development time of the greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). We found that moths reared on a diet diluted with cellulose (a low-nutrition diet) were about one-third smaller, had about one-fifth longer development time and exhibited about 10% stronger encapsulation responses as compared with moths reared on the standard diet. The low-nutrition parental diet prolonged the development time of male offspring that were fed the low-nutrition diet by about 4% and the development time of female offspring that were fed the standard diet by about 1%. However, females that were fed the low-nutrition diet attained about 6% greater body mass when their parents were reared on the low-nutrition diet. Our results add to the growing number of studies demonstrating that the nutritional history of parents can affect the performance of their offspring.

© Finnish Zoological and Botanical Publishing Board
Katariina Kangassalo, Jouni Sorvari, Ilkka Nousiainen, Mari Pölkki, Terhi M. Valtonen, Indrikis Krams, and Markus J. Rantala "Intra- and Trans-Generational Phenotypic Responses of the Greater Wax Moth, Galleria mellonella, to a Low-Nutrition Larval Diet," Annales Zoologici Fennici 57(1-6), 99-114, (14 May 2020). https://doi.org/10.5735/086.057.0111
Received: 21 October 2019; Accepted: 6 April 2020; Published: 14 May 2020
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