Modest dietary restriction (DR) prolongs life in a wide range of organisms, spanning single-celled yeast to mammals. Here, we report the use recent techniques nutrition research quantify detailed relationship between diet, nutrient intake, lifespan, and reproduction Drosophila melanogaster. Caloric (CR) was not responsible for extending lifespan our experimental flies. Response surfaces fecundity were maximized at different protein-carbohydrate intakes, with longevity highest...

1. Mounting an immune response is likely to be costly in terms of energy and nutrients, so it predicted that dietary intake should change infection offset these costs. The present study focuses on the interactions between a specialist grass-feeding caterpillar species, African armyworm Spodoptera exempta, opportunist bacterium, Bacillus subtilis. 2. main aims were (i) establish macronutrient costs insect host surviving systemic bacterial infection, (ii) determine relative importance protein...

Failure to adapt a changing nutritional environment comes at cost, as evidenced by the modern human obesity crisis. Consumption of energy-rich diets can lead and is associated with deleterious consequences not only in humans but also many other animals, including insects. The question thus arises whether animals restricted over multiple generations high-energy evolve mechanisms limit deposition adverse levels body fat. We show that Plutella xylostella caterpillars reared for on...

Abstract. The interactive effects of macronutrient balance [protein (P) : carbohydrate (C) ratio] and dietary dilution by cellulose on nutritional regulation performance were investigated in the generalist caterpillar Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval). Caterpillars reared through final stadium one 20 foods varying factorially content (P + C%: 42, 33.6. 25.2 or 16.8%) P C ratio (5 1, 2 1 5). animals compensate eating more diluted foods, but suffer reduced nutrient intake proportion to degree...

Abstract Temperature and nutrition are two prominent environmental variables influencing juvenile growth rate in ectotherms. These factors interact complex ways. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of the interactive effects temperature on various components fitness (growth rate, survival), food intake, level energy storage an insect herbivore, caterpillars Spodoptera exigua Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). In factorial experimental design, final‐instar (i.e., fifth instars) were...

Summary Food limitation is the most common environmental challenge faced by animals and capacity of to survive prolonged periods starvation linked their diet nutritional status. The fruit flies genus D rosophila have been widely used study ecology evolution resistance (SR), but basis has not yet fully explored. We taken a nutritionally explicit approach investigate quantitative qualitative effects nutrition on SR in melanogaster using state‐space geometric models nutrition. Experimental were...

Most ectotherms mature at a larger body size in colder conditions, phenomenon known as the temperature-size rule. While number of hypotheses have been proposed to explain this rule, little work has done understand it from nutritional perspective. We used final-instar caterpillars Spodoptera litura investigate how dietary protein∶carbohydrate (P∶C) balance influences relationship between temperature and size. The strength direction thermal reaction norm for were significantly altered by P∶C...

SUMMARY The present study evaluates the interactive effects of protein quality and ratio to digestible carbohydrate on herbivore performance,various aspects nutritional homeostasis (feeding post-ingestive regulation) food choice. In first experiment, final-instar caterpillars generalist-feeding African cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) were confined one 20 diets varying in protein:carbohydrate (P:C) (35:7, 28:14, 21:21,14:28 7:35) dietary (0%, 20%,...

SUMMARY We examined the nutritional correlates of diet breadth in insect herbivores by comparing patterns selection, nutrient balancing, post-ingestive utilization and development two sister species caterpillar a hybrid between them. One species, Heliothis virescens (HV) has broad host range, feeding on plants at least 14 families. The other, subflexa (HS), is specialist genus Physalis(Solanaceae). Experiments using synthetic foods showed that when caterpillars were allowed to mix their...

Protein and carbohydrate are the two major macronutrients that exert profound influences over fitness in many organisms, including Drosophila melanogaster. Our understanding of how these shape components D. melanogaster has been greatly enhanced by use nutritional geometry, but most geometric analyses on this species have conducted using semi-synthetic diets not chemically well-defined. Here we combined geometry defined to compare patterns larval adult life-history traits expressed across 34...

Abstract Drosophila melanogaster Meigen (Diptera: Drosophilidae) is a key model insect for studying life span and aging. Many laboratory strains of D. are currently used by laboratories worldwide, but they known to vary considerably in their physiology, behavior, histories. Although the importance dietary protein:carbohydrate (P:C) balance as predominant determinant other life‐history traits has been highlighted recent research, it remains unexplored whether impacts P:C on these...

Abstract Environments experienced during development have long‐lasting consequences for adult performance and fitness. The “environmental matching” hypothesis predicts that individuals perform best when developmental environments match whereas the “silver spoon” expects fitness is higher in developed under favorable regardless of environments. Temperature nutrition are two most influential determinants environmental quality, but it remains to be elucidated which these hypotheses better...