https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.m37pvmd8r

There are nine annotated datasets: Activity.csv, Male_Housefly_Weight.csv, Virulence.csv, MatingLatency.csv, FemaleChoice.csv, Mating_Attempts_Duration.csv, SpermViability.csv

Description of the data and file structure

The Activity.csv dataset was used in locomotion analyses and to generate Figures 1a, S3a and S4.

Table of contents for Activity.csv

• Individual: unique ID formed of the concatenation of variables Subject, Time and Week (see below) - (this variable was not used in this study)
• Subject: ID code for for each individual fly per weekly batch, indicating treatment status (infected or control) and its assigned number - (this variable was not used in this study)
• Time: number of hours after house flies were first placed with sporulating or freeze-killed cadavers
• Video: video number of the day, where 1 = 9am, 2 = noon and 3 = 3pm
• dpi: day post infection of data collection (from 2 to 7)
• Week: batch used in data collection organised by separate weeks of filming
• BeforeDeath: number of hours before experimental house flies died (inverse of Time)
• DayReversed: dpi in reverse chronological order, from death to infection.
• Observation: experimental treatment based on health status: control (= uninfected) or infected
• deathday: experimental treatment based on health status and which day house flies died: control (= uninfected), DeadDay6 (infected flies that died 6 days post infection) and DeadDay7 (infected flies that died 7 days post infection)
• locomotion.no: number of performed locomotion events
• locomotion.dur: duration (in seconds) of performed locomotion events
• standing.still.no: number of static (no discernible behavior) events - (these data were not used in this study)
• standing.still.dur: duration (in seconds) of static (no discernible behavior) events - (these data were not used in this study)
• drinking.no: number of performed drinking events - (these data were not used in this study)
• drinking.dur: duration (in seconds) of performed drinking events - (these data were not used in this study)
• feeding.no: number of performed feeding events - (these data were not used in this study)
• feeding.dur: duration (in seconds) of performed feeding events - (these data were not used in this study)
• grooming.no: number of performed grooming events - (these data were not used in this study)
• grooming.dur: duration (in seconds) of performed grooming events - (these data were not used in this study)

The Male_Housefly_Weight.csv dataset was used in virulence analyses and to generate Figures 1b and S3b.

Table of contents for Male_Housefly_Weight.csv

• Date: date of data collection
• Treatment: experimental treatment based on health status: control (= uninfected) or infected
• dpi: day post infection of data collection (from 2 to 6)
• Age: age in days as adult flies at time of measurement
• ID: ID code for each fly used in each trial
• Trial_ID: Trial number
• weight_ug: fly weight in micrograms (ug)
• weight_mg: fly weight in milligrams (mg)

The Virulence.csv dataset was used in virulence analyses and to generate Figure 1c.

Table of contents for Virulence.csv

• Treatment: experimental treatment based on health status: control (= uninfected) or infected
• Pupae_date: date of pupation
• Age: age in days as adult flies at time of measurement
• infection_date: date of exposure to sporulating or freeze-killed cadavers
• Pot: experimental container number
• dpi: day post infection of data collection (from 1 to 7)
• FlyID: ID code for each of the 10 flies per container (from 1 to 10)
• Status: mortality status 0=alive, 1=dead (binary 0/1)

The MatingLatency.csv dataset was used in male mating latency analyses and to generate Figures 2a-c.

Table of contents for MatingLatency.csv

• Observation: unique ID code for each behavioural assay
• Age: age in days as adult flies at time of measurement
• dpi: day post infection of data collection (from 2 to 6)
• TimeOfDay: time of day of behavioural assay (AM = morning, PM = afternoon)
• Treatment: experimental treatment based on health status: control (= uninfected) or infected
• Mated_not: mating status - unmated or mated
• status: mating status 0=unmated, 1=mated (binary 0/1)
• matinglatency_sec: male mating latency measured as time in seconds taken to successfully mate following arousal from anaethesia
• matinglatency_minute: male mating latency measured as time in minutes taken to successfully mate following arousal from anaethesia

The FemaleChoice.csv dataset was used in female choice analyses and to generate Figures 2d-f.

Table of contents for FemaleChoice.csv

• Observation: unique ID code for each behavioural assay - (same as in MatingLatency.csv)
• Age: age in days as adult flies at time of measurement - (same as in MatingLatency.csv)
• dpi: day post infection of data collection (from 2 to 6) - (same as in MatingLatency.csv)
• TimeOfDay: time of day of behavioural assay (AM = morning, PM = afternoon) - (same as in MatingLatency.csv)
• Treatment: experimental treatment based on health status: control (= uninfected) or infected - (same as in MatingLatency.csv)
• Mated_not: mating status - unmated or mated - (same as in MatingLatency.csv)
• mateattempts: number of mating attempted by the male
• status: mating status 0=unmated, 1=mated (binary 0/1) - (same as in MatingLatency.csv)
• femchoice_sec: female choice measured as time in seconds taken for a female to accept a male that has attempted to mate (flies that did not attempt to mate (i.e. mateattempts = 0, were removed during analyses))
• femchoice_minute: female choice measured as time in minutes taken for a female to accept a male that has attempted to mate (flies that did not attempt to mate (i.e. mateattempts = 0, were removed during analyses))

The Mating_Attempts_Duration.csv dataset was used in the analyses of male number and duration of courtship attempts and of mating duration, and to generate Figures 3 and S6.

Table of contents for Mating_Attempts_Duration.csv

• Observation: unique ID code for each behavioural assay - (same as in MatingLatency.csv)
• Age: age in days as adult flies at time of measurement - (same as in MatingLatency.csv)
• dpi: day post infection of data collection (from 2 to 6) - (same as in MatingLatency.csv)
• TimeOfDay: time of day of behavioural assay (AM = morning, PM = afternoon) - (same as in MatingLatency.csv)
• weight_mg: fly weight in milligrams (mg)
• Treatment: experimental treatment based on health status: control (= uninfected) or infected - (same as in MatingLatency.csv)
• Mated_not: mating status - unmated or mated - (same as in MatingLatency.csv)
• active.no: an active behaviour was scored when the male awoke from anaethesia and initiated the start of the trial for a male/female pair
• mounting.no: number of performed mount events
• repeat_courtship.no: number of performed repeat courtship events
• dismount.no: number of performed dismount events
• mating.no: number of performed mating events
• separated.no: a separated event indicates the end of the trial for a male/female pair - either by end of a mating event or by withdrawl from the experiment for unmated pairs
• active.dur: duration from when the male awoke from anaethesia to performance of a scored behaviour
• mounting.dur: duration of performed mount events
• repeat_courtship.dur: duration of performed repeat courtship events
• dismount.dur: duration of performed dismount events
• mating.dur: duration of performed mating events
• persist.no: total number of performed courtship behaviours (calculated as the sum of count.no and repeat_courtship.no)
• persist.dur: total duration of performed courtship behaviours (calculated as the sum of count.dur and repeat_courtship.dur)

The SpermViability.csv dataset was used in sperm viability analyses and to generate Figures 4a and S7.

Table of contents for SpermViability.csv

• Date: date of data collection
• FlyID: unique ID code for each individual
• dpi: day post infection of data collection (from 2 to 6)
• Age: age in days as adult flies at time of measurement
• Treatment: experimental treatment based on health status: control (= uninfected) or infected - (same as in MatingLatency.csv)
• TimeOfDay: time of day of behavioural assay (AM = morning, PM = afternoon) - (same as in MatingLatency.csv)
• weight_mg: fly weight in milligrams (mg)
• total_green: number of live sperm cells (stained green by the live/dead sperm viability kit)
• total_red: number of dead sperm cells (stained gred by the live/dead sperm viability kit)
• total_mixed: number of dual-stained sperm cells (dual-stained by the live/dead sperm viability kit)
• total: total number of sperm cells
• pct_green: percent of live sperm cells (stained green by the live/dead sperm viability kit) measured as 100*total_green/total
• pct_red: percent of dead sperm cells (stained gred by the live/dead sperm viability kit) measured as 100*total_red/total
• pct_mixed: percent of dual-stained sperm cells (dual-stained by the live/dead sperm viability kit) measured as 100*total_mixed/total

Code/Software

The R markdown file Edwards_et_al_2024_Libido_and_FemaleChoice.Rmd can be used to run all reported analyses and generate all published figures.
The knitted version of the R markdown file Edwards_et_al_2024_Libido_and_FemaleChoice.html can be used to view all reported analyses.