[{
  "type": "article-journal",
  "title": "CROSS-GENERATIONAL PLASTICITY: PARENTAL ENVIRONMENT MODULATES OFFSPRING FITNESS EVIDENCE FROM LIFE-HISTORY TRADE-OFFS IN  Mythimna separata (WALKER)",
  "author": [
    {
      "family": "Solangi",
      "given": ""
    },
    {
      "family": "Cheng",
      "given": ""
    },
    {
      "family": "Zhang",
      "given": ""
    },
    {
      "family": "Jiang",
      "given": ""
    }
  ],
  "issued": {
    "date-parts": [[2026]]
  },
  "container-title": "Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences",
  "ISSN": "1018-7081",
  "volume": "36",
  "issue": "5",
  "DOI": "https://doi.org/10.36899/JAPS.2026.5.0102",
  "abstract": "<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify; line-height: normal; direction: ltr; unicode-bidi: embed; margin: 12.0pt 0in 0in 0in;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-family: T; color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;\">Cross-generational plasticity, defined as non-genetic parental influences on offspring life history traits, represents a critical but underexplored mechanism in insects&rsquo; life-history adaptation. Current study was conducted to investigate how parental temperature (T<sub>P</sub>), offspring developmental temperature (T<sub>D</sub>), and offspring adult temperature (T<sub>A</sub>) interact to influence the offsprings performance in <em>Mythimna separata</em>. Offsprings from low-T<sub>P</sub> parents showed slower development at low T<sub>D</sub>, longer pre-oviposition periods, and the highest (331.92&plusmn;8.04 mg) pupal mass compared with offsprings from high-T<sub>P</sub> parents 261.11&plusmn;9.6 mg with significant differences (P&le;.0.001). Furthermore, females whose parents were reared at low temperature were heavier, more fecund and had weaker flight abilities than females whose parents were reared at high temperature indicating a trade-off between reproductive investment and dispersal ability with significant differences (P&le;0.001). In contrast, progeny from warm parental environments developed more rapidly, matured earlier, and exhibited stronger flight performance with less fecundity. Low T<sub>A</sub> consistently constrained fecundity and weaker flight ability across treatments, highlighting the importance of within-generation effects of low temperature. Overall, findings revealed that cooler environments favor phenotypes with delayed development (64.98 &plusmn; 6.58 Days), higher fecundity (556.96 &plusmn; 23.58), and weaker dispersal capacity, whereas warmer conditions promote faster development (30.88 &plusmn; 5.36 days), enhanced dispersal, but lower (410 &plusmn; 31.56 eggs) reproductive output with significant differences (P&le;0.002). These results suggest that cross-generational plasticity mediates adaptive trade-offs between reproduction and dispersal, thereby determining population dynamics and migratory potential. By aligning offspring traits to the thermal conditions experienced by parents, cross-generational temperature effects can strengthen pest survival in changing climates. </span></p>",
  "publisher": "Pakistan Agricultural Scientists Forum",
  "URL": "https://thejaps.org.pk/AbstractView.aspx?mid=2025-JAPS-984"
}]