Longevity, growth rate and related traits among strains of Tribolium castaneum

Longevity of eight laboratory strains of the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, with various geographic backgrounds, was studied under constant laboratory conditions of 33 degrees C and 70% relative humidity in standard medium (95% whole wheat flour and 5% dried yeast) during a period of 227 days starting from the egg stage. The eggs were collected from the same parents, first a few days after emergence and afterwards at intervals of 13, 9, 10 and 11 days. Mean survival time (MST) was found to be strain-specified. It ranges from 128.6 days for KJ (Kyoto, Japan) to 174.2 days for ES (Edinburgh, Scotland). MST was highly correlated with the percentage of adults alive after 227 days, which did not change the ranking order of strain longevity. Parental age had no effect on longevity. The mean adult longevity of the strains was correlated with the available data on adult weight, growth rate, viability and productivity. There was no relationship between adult weight and longevity. LIfe span was found to depend on growth rate (measured as 13-day larval weight), percent viability (from 13-day larvae to adulthood) and productivity. Developmental time was also found to influence adult life span within certain limits (two extreme strains deviated). The data suggest that ageing and death in T. castaneum is under genetic control and support the idea that ageing, allied to development, is genetically controlled.