Heat stress disrupts maternal care through independent effects on mothers and eggs

Abstract Parental care typically protects offspring from environmental stress. Yet, it remains unclear whether this protection arises from stress effects on parents, offspring or their interactions. We addressed this gap in the European earwig (Forficula auricularia) by independently manipulating heat stress in mothers and eggs using a cross-fostering experiment and measuring maternal care and offspring development. Our data show that heat stress altered care in additive rather than interactive