Open AccessInterspecific interactions change the outcome of sexual conflict over prehatching parental investment in the burying beetle N icrophorus vespilloides
Author(s) -
De Gasperin Ornela,
Kilner Rebecca M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.17
H-Index - 63
ISSN - 2045-7758
DOI - 10.1002/ece3.1795
Subject(s) - sexual conflict , biology , reproduction , zoology , reproductive strategy , interspecific competition , ecology , sexual selection
Sexual conflict arises when the optimal reproductive strategy differs for males and females. It is associated with every reproductive stage, yet few studies have considered how the outcome may be changed by interactions with other species. Here, we show that phoretic mites P oecilochirus carabi change the outcome of sexual conflict over the supply of prehatching parental investment in the burying beetle N icrophorus vespilloides . Burying beetles require a small dead vertebrate for reproduction, which they prepare by shaving it, rolling up the flesh, and burying it. When pairs were given a medium‐sized mouse to prepare (13–16 g), mites changed how the costs of reproduction were divided between the sexes, with males then sustaining greater costs than females. We found no equivalent difference when pairs prepared larger or smaller carcasses. Thus, our experiment shows that the outcome of sexual conflict over prehatching parental investment is changed by interactions with other species during reproduction.