To understand the effects of pollutants in a changing world we need multistressor studies that combine pollutants with other stressors associated with global change such as heat waves. We tested for the delayed and combined impact of a heat wave during the egg stage and subsequent sublethal exposure to the pesticide esfenvalerate during the larval stage on life history and physiology in the larval and adult stage of the damselfly Lestes sponsa. We studied this in a common garden experiment with replicated central- and high latitude populations to explore potential effects of local thermal adaptation and differences in life history shaping the multistressor responses. Exposure of eggs to the heat wave had no effect on larval traits, yet had delayed costs (lower fat and flight muscle mass) in the adult stage thereby crossing two life history transitions. These delayed costs were only present in central-latitude populations potentially indicating their lower heat tolerance. Exposure of larvae to the pesticide reduced larval growth rate and prolonged development time, and across metamorphosis reduced the adult fat content and the flight muscle mass, yet did not affect the adult heat tolerance. The pesticide-induced delayed emergence was only present in the slower growing central-latitude larvae, possibly reflecting stronger selection to keep development fast in the more time-constrained high-latitude populations. We observed no synergistic interactions between the egg heat wave and the larval pesticide exposure. Instead the pesticide-induced reduction in fat content was only present in animals that were not exposed to the egg heat wave. Our results based on laboratory conditions highlight that multistressor studies should integrate across life stages to fully capture cumulative effects of pollutants with other stressors related to global change.
Keywords: CTmax; Carry-over effects; Heat wave; Latitudinal gradient; Life history; Pyrethroids.
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