Embedded Files
Methods
Methods
The day after boldness trials, a bold male cricket was paired with a weight-matched timid male cricket in fight trials. All crickets were weighed after boldness trials. Fight trials took place in a 15 cm wide plexiglas arena in the same room as boldness trials and under dim room lights. An opaque barrier separated the crickets at the start of each trial and crickets acclimated to the arena for 15 min before the barrier was lifted (Fig. 6). After the acclimation period, the barrier was lifted so that the crickets were able to contact with each other. Males exhibited specific behaviors during a fight and after social status is attained (Fig. 7). All trials ended after 10 min.
Fig. 6. Experimental set-up for fight trials.
Fig. 7. Fighting male crickets exhibited agonistic behaviors including mandible spreading, mandible engagement, and wrestling (bottom). The winner of the fight (dominant) produced body jerks and rivalry song while the loser (subordinate) runs away (top). Lines and drawings were modified from Stevenson et al. (2005).
Fight Example
Fight Example
Results
Results
Percentages of Fights Won by Bold vs. Timid Male Crickets
Percentages of Fights Won by Bold vs. Timid Male Crickets
Fig. 8. Significantly more bold crickets won in fights (n = 56) against timid crickets. Chi square = 4.67, p = 0.03.
Bold: 57%
Timid: 43%
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