Cannibalism and intraguild predation in a wild population of lygaeid seed bug (dataset)

Methods of collection: Wild adults and nymphs of the species Lygaeus creticus and Spilostethus pandurus were collected from three field sites in Eastern Sicily during May/June 2023 and allowed to reproduce back at our fieldwork accommodation. Resulting eggs were then either allowed to hatch into nymphs for use in experiments or used in experiments directly. Experiments recorded the influence of egg identity (species: L. creticus or S. pandurus, relatedness: relative eggs from the same clutch as focal cannibal, non-relative eggs from a different egg clutch from the cannibal) on egg predation preferences of 1st instar L. creticus nymphs (Experiments 1 and 2) and the influence of egg consumption (and species of egg, L. creticus or S. pandurus consumed) on survival duration of 1st instar L. creticus nymphs (Experiment 3).
File formats: Data were recorded in Microsoft Excel Comma Separated Values Files for later statistical analysis in R. Code for subsequent data analysis was stored in an R file.
Column name descriptions:
Experiment 1:
Bug ID: Individual focal nymph’s ID number
Date of trial: Date experimental trial took place
Time of trial: Time experimental trial took place
Nymph clutch: ID number of egg clutch focal nymph taken from
Egg: Species of target egg
Egg clutch: ID number of egg clutch target eggs taken from
Date of egg collection: Date eggs collected
Eggs fed: The number of target eggs provided to focal nymphs during trials
Eggpredation: If any egg eating was displayed by the focal nymph (1=yes, 0=no)
Eggs eaten: The number of eggs eaten
Eggs not eaten: The number of eggs not eaten
Eclosed: If the focal nymph eclosed during trials (1=yes, 0=no)
Notes: Any additional relevant observations
Experiment 2:
Individual ID: Individual focal nymph’s ID number
Date of trial: Date experimental trial took place
Time of trial: Time experimental trial took place
Treatment: Relatedness treatment (UR = target eggs unrelated to focal nymph, MR= target eggs related to focal nymph)
Date of egg collection: Date eggs collected
Nymph clutch: ID number of egg clutch focal nymph taken from
Egg clutch: ID number of egg clutch target eggs taken from
Eggs fed: The number of target eggs provided to focal nymphs during trials
Cannibalised: Whether any egg cannibalism was displayed (1=yes, 0=no)
Eggs eaten: The number of eggs eaten
Eggs not eaten: The number of eggs not eaten
Eclosed: If the focal nymph eclosed during trials (1=yes, 0=no)
Notes: Any additional relevant observations
Experiment 3:
Nymph ID: Individual focal nymph’s ID number
Treatment (original): Egg provided to focal nymph: L. creticus egg (C), S. pandurus egg (S) or no egg provided (N)
Egg eaten: Whether the egg provided was eaten (Y= yes, N= no)
Treatment + Egg: Egg provided to the focal nymph combined with whether that egg was eaten to create the overall egg treatment (CY= L. creticus egg eaten, CN= L. creticus egg not eaten, SY = S. pandurus egg eaten, SN = S. pandurus egg not eaten, N = No egg provided)
Set up DAY: Day survival trial set up (egg provided to nymph)
Set up TIME: Time survival trial set up
Death DAY: Day focal nymph died or trial ended
Death TIME: Time focal nymph died or trial ended
Days: Number of days focal nymph survived for/ survival trials continued for
Hours: Number of hours focal nymph survived for/ survival trials continued for
Longevity: Total number of hours focal nymph survived for/ survival trials continued for following the trials commencement
Dead or Alive (0 or 1): Whether focal nymphs where dead (0) or alive (1) at the end of their respective survival trials
Notes: Any additional relevant information
Statistical analysis: Statistical analysis were completed using R version 4.3.1. Binomially distributed Generalised Linear Mixed-Models were used to assess effect of egg treatment on egg predation levels across both Experiments 1 and 2. Cox’s Proportional Hazards models were used to assess the effect of treatment on nymph survival time in Experiment 3, with binomially distributed Generalized Linear Models being used to test for egg predation preferences in this experiment.
Licences: There are no licences or restrictions placed on this data.