Maternal Transfer of Cuticular Hydrocarbons? Evidence from Between-Species Cross-Fostering Experiments in Earwigs

When females care for broods of mixed paternity, there is a threat of enhanced rivalry among offspring of different paternal lineages. This competition is against the best evolutionary interest of the female because she is equally related to all of her offspring and enhanced offspring competition would decrease her fitness. It was hypothesized earlier that mothers should therefore conceal the information about paternal origin in the recognition cues used by her offspring, for example by transferring the chemical cues used by her offspring for kin recognition. Here, we used a cross-fostering experiment between two closely related and sympatric earwig species, Forficula auricularia and F. decipiens, to demonstrate that F. auricularia nymphs tended by F. decipiens females differ in their cuticular hydrocarbon profiles from F. auricularia nymphs tended by F. auriculariafemales. This result provides evidence for maternal transfer of cuticular hydrocarbons and shows that offspring adoption across species is possible in earwigs