Optimum ratio of dietary protein and carbohydrate that maximises lifespan is shared among related insect species.

Animals often regulate the intake and quantity of nutrients to maximise fitness through life-history traits such as lifespan, but we still lack a proper understanding of how specific nutrients influence these traits. Here, I developed an algorithm which allowed me to create a nutrient-specific database from literature data, and investigated how the requirements of protein (P) and carbohydrate (C) needed to maximise lifespan evolved across nine insect species. I found moderate evidence of a phylogenetic signal on the optimal ratio of protein to carbohydrate ratio (PC ratio) that maximised lifespan, suggesting that optimal PC ratio for lifespan could have evolved non-independently among related species. I also found evidence for weak-to-strong sex-specific optimal PC ratios for lifespan, suggesting that sex-specific nutritional needs to maximise lifespan can emerge and persist in some species. Although limited in the number of species, the approach adopted here is portable to experiments with n $$ n $$ number of nutrients and, thus, can be used in complex comparative precision nutrition studies for insights into the evolution of animal nutrition.