At the inter-specific level, per offspring investment (POI), degree of abbreviated development, and lecithotrophic potential all increase with increasing latitude and freshwater penetration among crustaceans. These traits are considered adaptations to conditions of decreasing growth potential. We hypothesise that this relationship between POI and abbreviated development also occurs at the intra-specific level. We studied the caridean shrimp, Palaemonetes varians, to investigate the hypothesis that under food-limited conditions, higher POI enables development through fewer larval instars. Under starvation stress, larvae from broods of greater POI (measured as hatchling brood average dry weight, DW) generally developed through fewer larval instars. With increasing starvation period, larval development time increased, whilst larval growth rate, juvenile DW, juvenile carbon mass, and juvenile carbon: nitrogen (C:N) ratio all decreased. Larval development time generally decreased with increasing brood average dry weight. In contrast larval growth rate, juvenile DW, juvenile carbon mass, and juvenile C:N ratio all increased with increasing larval brood average DW. These results are consistent with the relationship between POI and larval instar number (abbreviation of development) at the inter-specific level and support the concept that macro-ecological trends in development modes at the inter-specific level may be driven by selection occurring on POI at the intra-specific level.