Metamorphosis does not completely decouple developmental environments from the adult phenotype in the burying beetle, Nicrophorus pustutlatus.

Variation in environmental conditions experienced during development can cause variation in developmental trajectories leading to differences in adult phenotypes. Complex life-cycles are thought to be able to decouple life-history stages and allow phenotypes to be expressed independently between life stages. Metabolic rate is an integrative measurement of body condition and varies in response to simple as well as with complex life-cycles. Here I investigate the developmental plasticity of metabolic rate of an invertebrate with a complex life-cycle.