Male responses to sperm competition risk associated with increased macronutrient intake and reduced lifespan

Increased expenditure on the ejaculate is a taxonomically widespread male response to sperm competition. Increased ejaculate expenditure is assumed to come at a cost to future reproduction, otherwise males should always invest maximally. However, the life-history costs of strategic ejaculation are not well documented. Macronutrient intake is known to affect the trade-off between reproduction and lifespan. Intakes of protein and carbohydrate that maximise reproduction are often differ from those that maximise lifespan. Here, we asked whether strategic expenditure on the ejaculate by male crickets, Teleogryllus oceanicus, is mediated by macronutrient intake, and whether it comes at a cost of reduced lifespan. Males were exposed to rival song throughout their lifespan or were held in a silent non-competitive environment. Males exposed to song had a higher intake of both protein and carbohydrate, they reached adulthood sooner, produced ejaculates of higher quality, and died sooner than male..., , , This excel file contains three data sheets with data necessary to reproduce the analyses and figures provided within Simmons & Chan 2023.

Sheet 1, intake summary & trait data

Column - description

A - Cricket - ID of individual cricket coded by treatment and a unique number (e.g. A1 or B1). A and B refers to two occasions on which 8th instar nymphs were drawn from the stock population..

B - Treatment - NS, silent or no-song environment; S, song environment

C - Date eclosed to adult

D - Death - date of death

E - weight at adult eclosion in grams

F - total amount of Carbohydrate consumed during lifetime (from sheet C intake)

G- total amount of Protein consumed during lifetime (from sheet P intake)

H - intake of C per gram of cricket per day of life

I - intake of P per gram of cricket per day of life

J - lifespan (days alive)

K - days from 9th instar moult to adult moult

L - spermatophore (sphor 1) on day 14, yes=1, no=0

M - number of live sperm stained green in first...