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Data for: Extra-genital wounding by males delays female remating in the sexually cannibalistic springbok mantis

Burke, Nathan1; Knapwerth, Laura1; Scchneider, Jutta1

Published Mar 06, 2026 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.q573n5tz3

Data files

Mar 06, 2026 version files 43.44 KB

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Abstract

An enigmatic consequence of sexual conflict in animals is the maintenance of traits in males that cause harm to females during mating interactions. Such harm is hypothesized to be either an adaptation per se, or a collateral side-effect of adaptations that benefit males in other contexts. Here, we take advantage of the unique mating interactions of the sexually cannibalistic springbok mantis, Miomantis caffra, to investigate the evolution of extra-genital wounding, whereby males stab females in the abdomen with foretibial claws while fighting back against cannibalistic attacks in premating struggles that lead to mating. If stabbing is adaptive, we predicted that experimentally wounded females would alter their remating behaviour or reproductive scheduling to the adaptive benefit of injurious mates. We found that females were not less attractive and did not cannibalize more following injury. Injured females also showed no change in mortality, fecundity or offspring production that would suggest male manipulation of female reproduction through wounding. However, injury caused a significant delay in the timing of remating and a reduction in the likelihood of remating with smaller males, suggesting a potential benefit through reduced sperm competition. Our results provide novel insights into how extra-genital wounding may be adaptive for males. (Note that data consist of 4 files: 1. female attractiveness (data_choice_successful), 2. female remating and cannibalism (data_remating_and_cannibalism), 3. female mortality and fecundity (data_ootheca_and_survival), and 4. offspring produced from the first ootheca (data_offspring_count)).