A trade-off is a relationship between two life history characteristics principally reproduction and adult longevity that are fundamental in predicting the optimal life history in any given environment. Mating is indispensable for sexual reproduction, but also can impose risks to females. Nevertheless, in the majority of insects, females allow multiple mating. Dichelops furcatus (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is a pest of wheat and corn in Argentina and southern Brazil, but little is known about its reproduction (i.e., the characteristics of the process that results in offspring). We analyzed reproductive attributes of D. furcatus, and the effect of single mating vs. multiple matings, evaluating the trade-off between fecundity and adult female longevity. We found that mating is not required for D. furcatus to oviposit, and multiple copulations were costly in terms of reduced longevity. Although multicopulated females lived a shorter period, only the pre- and post-reproductive periods were shortened. Fecundity was not affected but fertility was incremented in multicopulated females. Females copulated only once oviposited most of the eggs in the first half of the reproductive period, while eggs oviposited in the second half were all inviable (did not hatch). Studying demographic attributes of phytophagous insects provides relevant information to better understand the population dynamics of pests.

中文翻译：

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一妻多夫制以及雌性叉齿蜥（半翅目：蝽科）繁殖力与寿命之间的权衡


权衡是两个生活史特征（主要是繁殖和成年寿命）之间的关系，这对于预测任何给定环境中的最佳生活史至关重要。交配对于有性生殖是必不可少的，但也会给雌性带来风险。然而，在大多数昆虫中，雌性允许多次交配。叉齿蝽（半翅目：蝽科）是阿根廷和巴西南部小麦和玉米的害虫，但人们对其繁殖（即产生后代的过程的特征）知之甚少。我们分析了分叉石竹的生殖属性，以及单次交配与多次交配的影响，评估了繁殖力和成年雌性寿命之间的权衡。我们发现，分叉叉蝽不需要交配就能产卵，而且多次交配的代价高昂，会缩短寿命。尽管多交雌性的寿命较短，但只是生殖前后的时间缩短了。多交雌性的生育力没有受到影响，但生育力有所增加。雌性只交配一次，在生殖期的前半期产下大部分卵，而后半期产下的卵全部无法存活（未孵化）。研究植食性昆虫的种群属性可以为更好地了解害虫的种群动态提供相关信息。