Data from: Plasticity in parental care: Interspecific competitor cues shape biparental cooperation in a burying beetle
Data files
Apr 09, 2026 version files 40.36 KB
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Data_Plasticity_PatmoreSmiseth2026.csv
37.57 KB
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README.md
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Abstract
Interspecific competition is an important evolutionary driver of many species’ life histories and behaviours, arising wherever those species come into conflict over limited resources. However, how such competition shapes the plasticity of social behaviours within a species, such as biparental care, remains less clear. The burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides is an insect that exhibits biparental care, relying on small vertebrate carcasses to breed on. Such carcasses are relatively rare and highly valuable in nature, and so are competitively sought out by many other species, including the bluebottle fly, Calliphora vomitoria. Despite the close association and frequent rivalry between the two species, how their interactions shape biparental care decisions in these beetles has received little attention. We investigated how breeding success and duration of male and female care change with the perceived risk of interspecific competition by staging encounters between breeding pairs of beetles and fly intruders. We presented breeding pairs with dead flies, at varying times and densities, to assess changes in duration of care and fitness outcomes. We used dead flies to ensure the beetles’ response was driven solely by cues associated with flies, rather than direct interaction or resource depletion. We found that the duration of both male and female care was plastic to the presence of competitors, as both increased their duration of care. However, these encounters also resulted in increased breeding failures, with the strongest effects occurring when encounters took place early in the breeding attempt. Our results demonstrate parents’ behaviour was responsive to the perceived competitive threat, but this plastic response is itself associated with increased breeding failures, suggesting a trade-off between dealing with competitors and completing other parental tasks.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.6q573n687
Description of the data and file structure
This data file consists of a comma-separated values spreadsheet (.csv), which provides data on the effects of interspecific competitor cues (presence of Calliphora vomitoria) on biparental cooperation in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. Each line in the spreadsheet represents a pair. Any na represnts missing data.
Files and variables
File: Data_Plasticity_PatmoreSmiseth2026.csv
Description:
Variables
- date: date of replicate.
- week: week of replicate.
- trt_time: categorical treatment for timing of encounters: control, early, mid, or late.
- trt_flies: categorical treatment for density of encounters: control, low, or high.
- male: individual ID of the male parent.
- female: individual ID of the female parent.
- male_weight: male mass before breeding (g).
- female_weight: female mass before breeding (g).
- male_age: male age before breeding (dob).
- female_age: female age before breeding (dob).
- male_age_days: male age before breeding (days).
- female_age_days: female age before breeding (days).
- mouse: mass of the mouse provided to the pair for breeding (g).
- fly_numb: number of Calliphora vomitoria encountered (count: 0, 1, or 10).
- fly_weight: overall mass of the C. vomitoria encountered (g).
- male_abandon: time of male abandonment since time of pairing at 0a, checks made twice daily (ie. 0a, 0b, 1a, 1b...).
- female_abandon: time of female abandonment since time of pairing at 0a, checks made twice daily (ie. 0a, 0b, 1a, 1b...).
- first_larvae: time of first larval observation since time of pairing at 0a, checks made twice daily (ie. 0a, 0b, 1a, 1b...).
- male_a_weight: male mass after breeding (g).
- female_a_weight: female mass after breeding (g).
- male_d_weight: male mass after breeding (g).
- female_d_weight: female mass after breeding (g).
- fly24_present_y: after 24 h, count for the condition of C. vomitoria (present and damaged).
- fly24_present_n: after 24 h, count for the condition of C. vomitoria (present and undamaged).
- fly24_absent_y: after 24 h, count for the condition of C. vomitoria (absent and damaged).
- fly24_absent_n: after 24 h, count for the condition of C. vomitoria (absent and undamaged).
- fly24_x: after 24 h, count for the condition of C. vomitoria (no observation).
- larvae_dispersal: time of larval dispersal since time of pairing at 0a, checks made twice daily (ie. 0a, 0b, 1a, 1b...).
- larvae_numb: number of dispersing larvae (count).
- larv_weight: overall mass of the dispersing larvae (g).