Dietary restriction induces persistent multigenerational phenotypic effects in Phytoseiulus persimilis

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Entomology

Background:

• Transgenerational phenotypic plasticity (TGP) allows environmental influences to pass across generations.
• Diet-induced TGP in predators is not fully understood, impacting biological control efficacy.
• Prey availability affects predator performance, crucial for pest management.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate how ancestral dietary restriction affects life-history traits in Phytoseiulus persimilis.
• Determine the persistence of diet-induced effects across generations in this predatory mite.
• Assess the influence of maternal and paternal diet histories on offspring traits.

Main Methods:

• Rearing founding (F0) and first-generation (F1) P. persimilis on low- or high-prey diets.
• Subsequent generations (F2-F4) were reared under abundant prey to observe recovery.
• Second experiment involved crosses manipulating maternal/paternal ancestral diets and mating history in F5 offspring.

Main Results:

• F4 individuals from high-prey ancestral lineages showed increased survival and body size (females).
• Maternal ancestral diet consistently influenced egg size, female development time, and size at maturity.
• Paternal effects were context-dependent, interacting with maternal lineage and mating history.

Conclusions:

• Poor ancestral diet can cause lasting, sex-specific effects on predator performance, even after recovery generations.
• Maternal dietary legacies generally exert stronger influences than paternal ones.
• Accounting for multigenerational dietary history is vital for optimizing mass-rearing and field deployment of predatory mites for biological control.