Differential egg cannibalism among larvae of Tribolium castaneum as influenced by the antennapedia mutation

Abstract

Egg cannibalism by antennapedia and wide-type larvae of Tribolium castaneum was analyzed for two age groups (14 and 15 days old) with egg densities of 100 and 400. The effects of larval density and egg genotype (+ or ap) were also analyzed. The + larva consumed more eggs than ap larvae at both ages for the egg densities tested. Both strains were more cannibalistic at 14 days, consumed a higher percentage of eggs when egg density was increased among 14-day larvae, and tended to consume slightly more eggs of the opposite genotype when they were provided independently. However, neither strain discriminated between eggs of differing genotype when both were provided simultaneously. Egg cannibalism of the + strain increased when both genotypes of eggs were available. Reciprocal F1 hybrid larvae were similar in cannibalistic ability to the strain which served as a male parent. Larvae from "F2 recovered" ap beetles cannibalized fewer eggs than either original strain or the heterozygotes, further implicating the possible pleiotropic effect of the ap mutation on egg cannibalism.