Cannibalism of Eggs and Young
This sort of cannibalism involves the consumption of the eggs (ovicide), or young (infanticide) by an individual of the same species. There are many cases of egg and young consumption seen across the class isecta and it usually imposes some sort of advantage.
Santi and Maini (2007), found that under food restricted conditions ladybird mothers would lay eggs only to consume them immediately after, and if the egg was artificially removed the ladybird would actively search for it. In this case, egg consumption provided a nutritional benefit to the female rather than providing some sort of advantage to her offspring.
Santi and Maini (2007), found that under food restricted conditions ladybird mothers would lay eggs only to consume them immediately after, and if the egg was artificially removed the ladybird would actively search for it. In this case, egg consumption provided a nutritional benefit to the female rather than providing some sort of advantage to her offspring.
Figure 6: Lady bird: Harmonia axyridis
In contrast the parasitic wasp Bracon hebetor is able to reduce competition for her offspring by partaking in ovicide, or the consumption of eggs (Strand and Godfray, 1989). In this example the female wasp consumes a clutch of eggs that had been laid on a host by a previous female, then proceeds to lay her eggs on this same host. This gives her offspring a greater chance of survival once hatched, as they will no longer have to compete with the offspring of the previous female for resources such as food.
Figure 7: Parasitic wasp: Bracon hebetor
This sort of cannibalism doesn't just occur between a mother and her offspring either, cannibalism between larvae is quite common too. An example of this is seen in the cannibalistic behavior of some Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) larvae. Dethier (1937) documented the cannibalistic behavior of some Lepitoptera larvae and saw that even with a moderate supply of food, the weakest/smallest larva was usually attacked and consumed by a much larger individual.
Figure 8: Lepidopteran larvae cannibalism
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