Paul K Abram, Eric Guerra-Grenier, Jacques Brodeur, Clarissa Capko, Michely Ferreira Santos Aquino, Elizabeth H Beers, Maria Carolina Blassioli-Moraes, Miguel Borges, M Fernanda Cingolani, Antonino Cusumano, Patrick De Clercq, Celina A Fernandez, Tara D Gariepy, Tim Haye, Kim Hoelmer, Raul Alberto Laumann, Marcela Lietti, J E McPherson, Eduardo Punschke, Thomas E Saunders, Jin-Ping Zhang, Ian C W Hardy
AbstractMany animals lay their eggs in clusters. Eggs on the periphery of clusters can be at higher risk of mortality. We asked whether the most commonly occurring clutch sizes in pentatomid bugs could result from geometrical arrangements that maximize the proportion of eggs in the cluster's interior. Although the most common clutch sizes do not correspond with geometric optimality, stink bugs do tend to lay clusters of eggs in shapes that protect increasing proportions of their offspring as clutch sizes increase...
October 2023: American Naturalist