CROSS-GENERATIONAL PLASTICITY: PARENTAL ENVIRONMENT MODULATES OFFSPRING FITNESS EVIDENCE FROM LIFE-HISTORY TRADE-OFFS IN  Mythimna separata (WALKER)

Authors: Abdul waheed Solangi, Yunxia Cheng, Lei Zhang, Xingfu Jiang
Journal: Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences (JAPS)
ISSN: 1018-7081 (Print), 2309-8694 (Online)
Volume: 36  Issue: 5  
Year: 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36899/JAPS.2026.5.0102
URL: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.36899/JAPS.2026.5.0102
Publisher: Pakistan Agricultural Scientists Forum

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>

Keywords: Cross generational effects, offspring, temperature, life history traits, flight performance.