# Maternal diet exerts sex-specific effects on offspring’ personalities in predatory mites

## TL;DR

The diet of predatory mite mothers affects the personalities of their offspring, with different diets leading to distinct behavioral traits in sons and daughters.

## Contribution

This study reveals that maternal diet during egg production influences offspring personality traits in predatory mites.

## Key findings

- Offspring from spider mite-fed mothers were the most active, while those from pollen-fed mothers were the shiest.
- Thrips-fed mothers produced offspring with higher behavioral repeatability in activity.
- Daughters with consistent and active personalities laid more eggs than those with flexible behaviors.

## Abstract

Animal personalities are characterized by consistent behavior within individuals linked to consistently variable behavior among individuals in a population across time and contexts. Genetic determination, transgenerational effects, and personal experience are major pathways shaping animal personalities. Among these pathways, little attention has been paid to environmental factors in the parental generation affecting offspring personality. Here we tested the effects of the maternal diet on offspring personality in the plant-inhabiting predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii. Mated females and males, whose mothers were fed during egg production on cattail pollen, spider mites, or thrips, were subjected to a battery of 3 to 5 tests each for exploration, activity, and boldness. Movement activity was assessed in the mites’ familiar environment. Exploration was quantified by the latency to leave and reach novel sites or objects. Boldness was evaluated by residence in risky and benign sites. On average, offspring from spider mite-fed mothers were the most active and those from pollen-fed mothers were the shiest. Offspring from thrips-fed mothers were more repeatable in activity than offspring from pollen- and spider mite-fed mothers. Consistently little and highly active personalities produced more eggs than flexible types. Only offspring from pollen-fed mothers were repeatable in boldness. Taken together, our study suggests that the maternal diet critically influences both mean behavioral trait expression and behavioral repeatability of offspring. The ability of mothers to respond to short-term diet changes during internal egg formation allows to adaptively adjust the behavior and personalities of daughters and sons within local and regional groups.

Animal personalities are ubiquitous, yet the role of mothers in shaping the personalities of offspring remains elusive. Predatory mite mothers alter the personalities, especially in activity, of their sons and daughters based on the diet ingested during internal egg formation. Mothers benefit from providing diet-related information to offspring and changing their behavior because the daughters’ personalities correlate with reproduction.