The oxidative damage caused to cells by Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) is one of several factors implicated in causing ageing. Oxidative damage may also be a proximate cost of reproductive effort that mediates the trade-off often observed between reproduction and survival. However, how the balance between oxidative damage and antioxidant protection affects life-history strategies is not fully understood. To improve our understanding, we selected on female reproductive age in the marula fruit fly, Ceratitis cosyra, and quantified the impact of selection on female and male mortality risk, female fecundity, male sperm transfer, calling and mating. Against expectations, upward-selected lines lived shorter lives and experienced some reductions in reproductive performance. Selection affected oxidative damage to lipids and total antioxidant protection, but not in the direction predicted; longer lives were associated with elevated oxidative damage, arguing against the idea that accumulated oxidative damage reduces lifespan. Greater reproductive effort was also associated with elevated oxidative damage, suggesting that oxidative damage may be a cost of reproduction, although one that did not affect survival. Our results add to a body of data showing that the relationship between lifespan, reproduction and oxidative damage is more complex than predicted by existing theories.

活性氧（ROS）对细胞造成的氧化损伤是导致衰老的几种因素之一。氧化损伤也可能是生殖努力的直接代价，它介导了经常在繁殖和生存之间观察到的折衷。但是，氧化损伤和抗氧化剂保护之间的平衡如何影响生活史策略尚未完全了解。为了增进我们的了解，我们选择了雌性雌性育龄中的马拉拉果蝇（Ceratitis cosyra），并量化了选择对女性和男性死亡风险，女性生殖力，男性精子转移，交配和交配的影响。出乎意料的是，向上选择的品系寿命较短，生殖性能有所下降。选择会影响脂质的氧化损伤和总抗氧化保护，但未达到预期的方向；更长的寿命与较高的氧化损伤有关，这与累积的氧化损伤会缩短寿命的观点不符。更大的生殖努力也与氧化损伤的增加有关，这表明氧化损伤可能是繁殖的代价，尽管这并不影响生存。我们的结果增加了一系列数据，表明寿命，