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15 August 2022 An Indirect Cost of Male-Male Aggression Arising from Female Response
Toshiki Yoshimizu, Junichi Akutsu, Takashi Matsuo
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Abstract

Animal behavior is often polymorphic between individuals within a population. A cost/benefit balance of a particular behavioral pattern may be influenced by social interaction with other individuals with different behavioral patterns. Males of a fruitfly, Drosophila prolongata, show genetically defined polymorphism in aggressiveness and boldness against rival males. Males of the H strain are highly aggressive, and their fights tend to escalate into boxing, the highest level of aggressive interaction. H males are also bold against sneaker males and do not hesitate to perform leg vibration (LV), a courtship behavior that is vulnerable to interception of the female by surrounding rival males. In contrast, males of the L strain rarely engage in boxing and do not perform LV in the presence of rival males. We examined their mating success in small experimental populations. The mating success of L males was higher in a pure L population than in a mixed population with H males, whereas that of H males was higher in a mixed population than in a pure H population. Notably, this ‘cost of aggression’ in a pure H population seemed not directly derived from the male-to-male interaction but was imposed by the female’s response of escaping from fighting males, compromising the benefit of the resource monopolization as territory.

© 2022 Zoological Society of Japan
Toshiki Yoshimizu, Junichi Akutsu, and Takashi Matsuo "An Indirect Cost of Male-Male Aggression Arising from Female Response," Zoological Science 39(6), 514-520, (15 August 2022). https://doi.org/10.2108/zs210116
Received: 8 December 2021; Accepted: 5 July 2022; Published: 15 August 2022
KEYWORDS
aggression
courtship
genetic polymorphism
mating strategies
sneaking
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