10.5061/DRYAD.2Z34TMPM9
Miller, Christine
0000-0003-1359-5624
University of Florida
Dataset for: Trade-offs between weapons and testes do not manifest at high
social densities
Dryad
dataset
2021
FOS: Biological sciences
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
IOS: 1553100
2021-04-14T00:00:00Z
2021-04-14T00:00:00Z
en
111056 bytes
2
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Social conditions can alter the allocation of resources to reproductive
traits. For example, an increase in social density during development is
frequently associated with an increase in the testes mass of males. Sperm
competition theory assumes that increased investment in testes should come
at the expense of investing into precopulatory traits, such as sexually
selected weaponry. However, much remains unknown about the role of the
social context on the concurrent, relative investment in both testes and
weapons. We found that the leaf-footed cactus bug, Narnia femorata
(Hemiptera: Coreidae), grew nearly 20% larger testes when raised in high
social densities. In addition to manipulating social density, we used
autotomy (limb loss) to limit investment in their hind-limb weapon during
development. At low densities, we found that those that lost a weapon
during development grew larger testes by adulthood, supporting previous
work demonstrating a weapons-testes trade-off. However, at high social
densities, males that dropped a hind limb did not grow larger testes,
though testes were already large at this density. These results underscore
the importance of the social context to resource allocation patterns
within the individual.