The Battle of the Sexes: How Female Condition Affects Conflict Over Mate Guarding Duration in Hyalella Amphipods

Abstract

Sexual conflict, different evolutionary interests between females and males, is common in nature and is expected to shape the evolution of mating traits and affect the productivity of populations. Most research has focused on male “offense” traits with relatively less research on female “defense” traits. We explored how female condition affects conflict over mate guarding duration in a freshwater amphipod species in the genus Hyalella. We hypothesize that females in poor condition will be exposed to longer mate guarding periods because they are unable to resist male pairing attempts. We will test this hypothesis by varying the amount of spirulina, a high nutrient protein powder, that is included in female’s diets. One group of females will receive a lower quality diet and the other group of females will receive a high-quality diet. A female from one of the two diet treatments and a male will be added to the same environment and pairing durations recorded. We predict females receiving the lower quality diet will have longer pairing durations. This research is important to understanding female trait that mediate sexual conflict over pairing duration in amphipod populations.