Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 21, 2025
07:54
Field-Based Thermal Physiology Assay: Cold Shock Recovery under Ambient Conditions
Published on: March 9, 2021
2.9K
Sex-specific variation in thermal sensitivity has multiple negative effects on reproductive trait performance
Matilda Q R Pembury Smith1,2, Daniela Trojmar1, Karl Gotthard1,2
1Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
The Journal of Animal Ecology
|March 18, 2025
Summary
Increasing temperatures harm butterfly reproduction, especially male fertility, impacting population growth. This highlights the need for climate models to consider sex-specific reproductive impacts of heat stress.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Climate Change Biology
Background:
- Population growth rate is influenced by temperature-dependent life-history traits.
- Reproductive traits are generally more sensitive to temperature than survival or development.
- Sex-specific thermal sensitivities in reproduction can differentially affect population dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the sex-specific effects of heat stress on pupal survival and reproductive traits in the butterfly Pieris napi.
- To determine how elevated temperatures impact mating success, egg production, fertility, and sperm viability.
- To assess the differential thermal sensitivity of reproductive traits between males and females.
Main Methods:
- Butterflies (Pieris napi) were reared at control (22°C) and elevated (29°C) temperatures.
- Pupal survival, body weight, mating success, copulation duration, and egg production were measured.
- Fertility, male sterility recovery, and sperm characteristics (eupyrene and apyrene) were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Elevated temperatures reduced pupal survival and body weight in both sexes.
- Heat stress decreased mating success in females but not males.
- Heat-stressed males exhibited near-complete sterility due to disrupted sperm production/transfer, which was not recovered by remating.
Conclusions:
- Temperatures optimal for development can negatively impact sex-specific reproductive fitness.
- Male sterility induced by heat stress has significant implications for population persistence.
- Future climate warming models must incorporate sex-specific reproductive responses to accurately predict ectotherm population persistence.
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