Sperm and sex peptide stimulate aggression in female Drosophila

Bath, Eleanor; Bowden, Samuel R.; Peters, Carla; Reddy, A. Sreenath; Tobias, Joe; Easton‐Calabria, Evan; Seddon, Nathalie; Goodwin, Stephen F.; Wigby, Stuart

doi:10.1038/s41559-017-0154

Cited by 80 publications

(131 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…We tested whether mating status and larval density influence female competition in D. melanogaster . Consistent with previous findings (Bath et al, ), contest duration was strongly influenced by mating status, whereby pairs of mated females fought for longer than mixed pairs, or pairs with two virgin females. However, we found that high density larval environments strongly exacerbated the difference in contest duration between mated and virgin female pairs.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…We previously demonstrated that ejaculate components transferred at mating increase the duration of female aggression in female D. melanogaster but detected no effect of mating on fighting success (Bath et al, 2017). Crucially, our previous work was conducted on females all raised in benign, resource-rich and low density developmental environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…To test these ideas, we manipulated larval density during development and measured the effects on mating‐induced female aggression in adulthood. We had 2 main predictions: Females raised at low larval density would win more fights against females raised at high larval density due to the competitive advantage of increased body size, but that, based on past findings (Bath et al, ), mating would not influence contest outcome. EITHER, females raised at low larval density (who eclose larger) will show a greater increase in mating‐induced aggression, because they receive an absolutely larger ejaculate (Lüpold et al, ; Wigby et al, ), OR females raised at high larval density (who eclose smaller) will show a greater increase in mating‐induced aggression, because of the larger ejaculate‐to‐body size ratio (Wigby et al, ). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The developmental environment modulates mating‐induced aggression and fighting success in adult female Drosophila

2018

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Competition over access to resources early in life can influence development, and, in turn, affect competitive phenotypes in reproductive adults. Theory predicts that competition between adult females should be especially context‐dependent, because of constraints imposed by high costs of reproduction. However, the potential impact of developmental environments on competition in adult females remains little understood. In Drosophila melanogaster , the developmental environment can strongly influence adult condition, and prime adult competitive behaviour. In this species, female–female aggression is dependent on reproductive state and increases after mating due to the receipt of sperm and seminal fluid components. However, the effects of the developmental environment on adult female aggression, and any potential interactions with mating status, are unknown. To address this problem, we first raised flies at low and high larval density, which altered competition over limited resources, produced large and small adult females, respectively, and potentially primed them for differing levels of adult competition. We then fought the resulting adult females, either as virgins, or after receiving aggression‐stimulating ejaculates at mating, to test for interacting effects. We found, as expected, that mating elevated contest duration. However, this mating‐induced boost in aggression was strongly exacerbated for high density (small) females. Low density (large) females won more contests overall, but were not more successful in fights after mating. In contrast, mating increased the fighting success in females raised in high density environments. Our results suggest that individuals who experience competitive, resource‐limited, rearing conditions are more sensitive to the aggression‐stimulating effects of the male ejaculate. This finding highlights the importance of the developmental environment in mediating adult social interactions and provides support for the theory that female–female aggression should be highly context‐dependent. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13214/suppinfo is available for this article.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The developmental environment modulates mating‐induced aggression and fighting success in adult female Drosophila

2018

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“…Females often demonstrate different patterns of aggressive behaviours than males (Nilsen et al., ), and competitive behaviour in females may be more influenced by the value of the resource than competition among males (Cain & Langmore, ; Draud, Macias‐Ordonez, Verga, & Itzkowitz, ; Tibbetts, ). Furthermore, female aggression increases after mating (Bath et al., ), which may have accounted for higher aggression in females compared to males, as it is unlikely any females were virgins at the time of our trials.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Experimental evidence that density mediates negative frequency‐dependent selection on aggression

Kilgour

McAdam

Betini

et al. 2018

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Aggression can be beneficial in competitive environments if aggressive individuals are more likely to access resources than non-aggressive individuals. However, variation in aggressive behaviour persists within populations, suggesting that high levels of aggression might not always be favoured. The goal of this study was to experimentally assess the effects of population density and phenotypic frequency on selection on aggression in a competitive environment. We compared survival of two strains of Drosophila melanogaster that differ in aggression across three density treatments and five frequency treatments (single strain groups, equal numbers of each strain and strains mixed at 3:1 and 1:3 ratios) during a period of limited resources. While there was no difference in survival across single-strain treatments, survival was strongly density dependent, with declining survival as density increased. Furthermore, at medium and high densities, there was evidence of negative frequency-dependent selection, where rare strains experienced greater survival than common strains. However, there was no evidence of negative frequency-dependent selection at low density. Our results indicate that the benefits of aggression during periods of limited resources can depend on the interaction between the phenotypic composition of populations and population density, both of which are mechanisms that could maintain variation in aggressive behaviours within natural populations.

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“…And what better way to dissect this than with the powerful model system, Drosophila melanogaster , whose aggressive behaviour was first described over 100 years ago by Sturtevant 2 . Writing in Nature Ecology & Evolution , Bath et al 3 show that the extended duration of female aggression in fruit flies is caused by receipt of sperm and, in part, by receipt of a seminal fluid protein, known as the sex peptide (SP), during mating. Therefore, their results show that aggressive behaviours in one sex can be influenced significantly by chemical messages from the other, and open up many questions regarding the function and adaptive value of female aggressive behaviour.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%