Data from: Fake news? The impact of information mismatch in mating behaviour
Data files
May 21, 2024 version files 36.60 KB
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README.md
2.16 KB
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Rodrigues_et_al._Dataset_across.txt
15.48 KB
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Rodrigues_et_al._Dataset_raw.txt
3.54 KB
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Rodrigues_et_al._Description_Datasets.txt
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Rodrigues_MC_scripts_Dryad.R
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Abstract
Multiple cues are often used for mate choice in complex environments, potentially entailing mismatches between different sources of information. We address the consequences thereof for receivers using the spider mite Tetranychus urticae, in which virgin females are highly valuable mates compared to mated females, given first male sperm precedence. Accordingly, males prefer virgins and distinguish them using cues from the females and/or that are present on the substrate. Whereas the former are more reliable, the latter may allow for a faster or more long-distance response. However, there can be mismatched information between cues as females move and/or mate. Here, we tested the consequences thereof by exposing males to mated or virgin females on patches previously impregnated with cues deposited by females of either mating status. Male mating attempts were solely affected by substrate cues while female acceptance and the number of mating events were independently affected by both cues. Copulation duration, in contrast, depended mainly on the mating status of the female, with the number of copulations and the total time spent mating being intermediate in environments with mismatched information. Ultimately, male survival costs mirrored male investment in mating. These results suggest that, in environments with mismatched information, the substrate cues left by females are instrumental for males to find their mates, but they can also lead to males paying survival costs without the associated benefit of mating effectively, or suffering reduced costs at the expense of losing effective mating opportunities. The benefit of using multiple cues will then hinge upon the frequency of information mismatch, which itself should vary with the dynamics of populations.
With this data, we study the mating behaviour of male and female two-spotted spider mites (Tetranychus urticae) in environments with two type of cues signalling female mating status: cues previously left in the substrate by females and those released by females on the patches. We then determined whether the different types of cues result in differential survival costs for males.
We found that while the number of mating attempts observed was only influenced by the cues left in the substrate prior to the mating trials, the frequency of female acceptance and the consequent mating rate were affected by those cues and by cues produced by females themselves, being higher with cues from virgins. Once copulation started, its duration seemed to depend mainly on the mating status of the female being fertilized, with the overall amount of time invested in mating being higher in matings with virgins than in matings with mated females. Male survival costs mirrored male investment in reproductive behaviour, with patches with discordant cues showing intermediate mating rates, cumulative copulation duration and survival costs.
We conclude that the optimal use of cues and corresponding behaviour should depend on the balance between the costs of acceptance and rejection errors and this, in turn, should vary with the dynamics of the social and ecological environment.
Description of the Data and file structure
Two datasets (Rodrigues_et_al._Dataset_across and Rodrigues_et_al._Dataset_raw) are provided (.txt), together with a file defining all variables found in the datasets (Rodrigues et al. Description Datasets.txt).
In addition, the code can be found in file “Rodrigues_MC_scripts Dryad” (.r). This file is divided in 3 sections: Datasets, Analyses and Graphs.
The first allows the user to load the dataset into R and rename the relevant variables; the second includes all the statistical analyses done and described in the manuscript; the third contains the codes used to produce the graphs representing the data collected and found in the manuscript.