Male condition influences female post mating aggression and feeding in Drosophila

Bath, Eleanor, Buzzoni, Daisy, Ralph, Toby, Wigby, Stuart ORCID: 0000-0002-2260-2948 and Sepil, Irem (2021) Male condition influences female post mating aggression and feeding in Drosophila FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, 35 (6). pp. 1288-1298. ISSN 0269-8463, 1365-2435

Access the full-text of this item by clicking on the Open Access link.

Text 1365-2435.13791.pdf - Author Accepted Manuscript Download (12MB) | Preview

Abstract

Mating changes female behaviour and physiology across a wide range of taxa, with important effects for male and female fitness. These changes are often induced by components of the male ejaculate, such as sperm and seminal fluid proteins. However, males can vary significantly in their ejaculates, due to factors such as age, mating history or nutritional status. This male variation may therefore lead to variation in the strength of responses males can stimulate in females, with alterations in fitness outcomes for both sexes. Using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, we tested whether three aspects of male condition shape an important, but understudied, post-mating response—increased female–female aggression. We found that females mated to old males fought less than females mated to young males. This effect was exacerbated in mates of old, sexually active males, but there was no effect of male starvation status on mating-induced female aggression. There was also a significant effect of age and mating history on female post-mating feeding duration. Our results add to a growing body of literature that variation in male condition can shape sexual selection through post-mating responses in females, including female–female interactions. Studying such variation may therefore be useful for understanding how the condition of one sex affects the behaviour of the other. A free plain language summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	ageing, aggression, Drosophila melanogaster, female-female competition, seminal fluid, sexual selection, sperm
Divisions:	Faculty of Health & Life Sciences Faculty of Health & Life Sciences > Inst. Infection, Vet & Ecological Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	07 Apr 2021 10:15
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2026 11:25
DOI:	10.1111/1365-2435.13791
Open Access URL:	https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10...
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3118341
Disclaimer:	The University of Liverpool is not responsible for content contained on other websites from links within repository metadata. Please contact us if you notice anything that appears incorrect or inappropriate.