Sensory perception of rivals has trait-dependent effects on plasticity in Drosophila melanogaster

The social environment has myriad effects on individuals, altering reproduction, immune function, cognition, and aging. Phenotypic plasticity enables animals to respond to heterogeneous environments such as the social environment but requires that they assess those environments accurately. It has been suggested that combinations of sensory cues allow animals to respond rapidly and accurately to changeable environments, but it is unclear whether the same sensory inputs are required in all traits that respond to a particular environmental cue. Drosophila melanogaster males, in the presence of rival males, exhibit a consistent behavioral response by extending mating duration. However, exposure to a rival also results in a reduction in their lifespan, a phenomenon interpreted as a trade-off associated with sperm competition strategies. D. melanogaster perceive their rivals by using multiple sensory cues; interfering with at least two of olfactory, auditory, or tactile cues eliminates the ex..., , , # Data from: Sensory perception of rivals has trait-dependent effects on plasticity in Drosophila melanogaster

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4j0zpc8m1](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4j0zpc8m1)

Data are mating, behavioural and lifespan observations for male *Drosophila melanogaster* fruit flies under social isolation or pairing, with manipulation of sensory cues.

## Description of the data and file structure

Datafile contains 9 tabs, one \"readme\" tab and 13 data sheets. The readme tab details the link between the data in each tab and the figure presented in the associated paper, then explanations of column names in each datasheet.

## Code/Software

Analysis was completed in R and code is appended as supplementary material of the paper.