Data from: No evidence for phenotypic condition-dependent ejaculate allocation in response to sperm competition in a seed beetle
Data files
Nov 21, 2024 version files 15.55 KB
Abstract
Sperm competition is known to favour the evolution of male traits that confer an advantage in gaining fertilisations when females mate multiply. Ejaculate production can be costly and the strategic allocation of sperm in relation to the sperm competition environment is a taxonomically widespread phenomenon. However, variation among males in their ability to adjust ejaculate allocation has rarely been explored. Here, we manipulated the phenotypic condition of male seed beetles, Callosobruchus maculatus, via larval diet quality and measured ejaculate allocation across varying levels of sperm competition manipulated using olfactory cues. Further, we asked how strategic ejaculation was impacted by previous ejaculation. We found no variation in ejaculate allocation in response to experimentally manipulated cues to sperm competition. Ejaculate allocation was reduced by a male’s previous mating history, but was unaffected by the larval diets on which males were reared. We suggest that either male seed beetles are unable to adjust ejaculate size to the immediate competitive environment, or that sperm displacement strategies employed by males favour maximal investment at all mating events, especially when unmated females are infrequently encountered. As our study is one of few to examine condition-dependence in strategic ejaculation, emphasis should be placed on future studies investigating this possibility across a wider range of taxa and animal mating systems.
README: Data from: No evidence for phenotypic condition-dependent ejaculate allocation in response to sperm competition in a seed beetle
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.b2rbnzsr0
Description of the data and file structure
The excel file “weight.csv” contains the data and the R script “final.R” the code required to reproduce the analysis and figures presented in “No evidence for phenotypic condition-dependent ejaculate allocation in response to sperm competition in a seed beetle” by Blake W. Wyber, Joseph L. Tomkins & Leigh W. Simmons, and published in the journal Behavioral Ecology.
Files and variables
File: weight.csv
Description: 8 columns
Variables
- ID: a unique identifier given to each male individual in the analysis
- Bean: the bean type on which the individual was raised, C=chickpea, M=mung bean
- CHC: the treatment level, being the number of male CHC blends coated onto the female that was then mated to the focal male
- FW: weight of the female before mating (mg)
- EJ: weight of the ejaculate transferred (mg)
- Offspring: the number of adult offspring produced
- Mating: the male’s first (1) or second (2) mating
- MW: the weight of males before their first mating (mg)
File: final.R
Description: R script to run statistical analyses and draw figures presented in the Wyber et al 2024.
Code/software
Analyses were run in R_Core_Team, 2021. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: Austria.