Mapping the nutritional landscape in the yellow mealworm: testing the nutrient-mediated life-history trade-offs.

Animals must acquire an ideal amount and balance of macronutrients to optimize their performance, health and fitness. The nutritional landscape provides an integrative framework for analysing how animal phenotypes are associated with multiple nutritional components. Here, we applied this powerful approach to examine how the intake of protein and carbohydrate affects nutrient acquisition and performance in the yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) reared on one of 42 synthetic foods varying in protein and carbohydrate content.

Behavioural and physiological regulation of protein and carbohydrates in mealworm larvae: A geometric analysis.

Protein-carbohydrate regulation in the larvae of the mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor L.) was analyzed using the Geometric Framework for nutrition. In this study, the ingestive and post-ingestive responses were measured from T.

Temperature-driven plasticity in nutrient use and preference in an ectotherm.

Environmental temperature has strong effects on the rate and efficiency of resource use in ectotherms, but little is known about how changes in temperature influence their diet selection patterns. Changes in temperature may alter the balance of nutrients required by ectotherms by affecting metabolism. In response to temperature changes, ectotherms are predicted to express a preference for a specific nutrient (protein or carbohydrate) to match their altered nutrient requirement.

Balanced intake of protein and carbohydrate maximizes lifetime reproductive success in the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae).

Recent developments in insect gerontological and nutritional research have suggested that the dietary protein:carbohydrate (P:C) balance is a critical determinant of lifespan and reproduction in many insects. However, most studies investigating this important role of dietary P:C balance have been conducted using dipteran and orthopteran species. In this study, we used the mealworm beetles, Tenebrio molitor L.

Macronutrient Balance Modulates the Temperature-Size Rule in an Ectotherm.

Most ectotherms mature at a larger body size in colder conditions, a phenomenon known as the temperature-size rule. While a number of hypotheses have been proposed to explain this rule, little work has been done to understand it from a nutritional perspective. We have used the final-instar caterpillars of Spodoptera litura to investigate how dietary protein∶carbohydrate (P∶C) balance influences the relationship between temperature and body size.

Geometric analysis of nutrient balancing in the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor L. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae).

Geometric analysis of the nutritional regulatory responses was performed on an omnivorous mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor L. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) to test whether this beetle had the capacity to balance the intake of protein and carbohydrate. We also identified the pattern of ingestive trade-off employed when the insect was forced to balance the costs of over- and under-ingesting macronutrients.