Decoupling of Behavioral Trait Correlation Across Life Stages in Two Holometabolous Insects

Many animal behaviors have a genetic base, and behavioral traits often correlate with one another. In this study, we tested for a behavioral correlation between tonic immobility and walking distance in the larval and adult stages independently of two holometabolous insects. We confirmed a negative correlation of traits between strains in adults of both the species; however, we did not find it in larvae of either species. This suggests that the negative correlation between tonic immobility and walking is decoupled across life stages from larva to adult. In contrast, previous studies have reported that phenotypic correlations between behavioral traits are maintained from larvae to adults in hemimetabolous insects. In addition, our present results differ from previous results with holometabolous insects. Therefore, our results suggest that metamorphosis can change trade-offs between behavioral traits.