Sexually antagonistic coevolution of the male nuptial gift and female feeding behaviour in decorated crickets

The evolution of nuptial gifts has traditionally been considered a harmonious affair, providing benefits to both mating partners. There is growing evidence, however, that receiving a nuptial gift can be actively detrimental to the female. In decorated crickets (Gryllodes sigillatus), males produce a gelatinous spermatophylax that enhances sperm transfer but provides little nutritional benefit and hinders female post-copulatory mate choice. Here, we examine the sexually antagonistic coevolution of the spermatophylax and the female feeding response to this gift in G. sigillatus maintained in experimental populations with either a male-biased or female-biased adult sex ratio. After 25 generations, males evolving in male-biased populations produced heavier spermatophylaxes with a more manipulative combination of free amino acids than those evolving in female-biased populations. Moreover, when the spermatophylax originated from the same selection regime, females evolving in male-biased popul..., We manipulated the intensity of interlocus sexual conflict in replicate experimental population by manipulating the adult sex ratio to be either male -biased (increased conflict) or female-biased (reduced conflict). This was done for 25 generations of evolution. We then measured the manipulative properties of the male nuptial gift (the spermatophylax) in these populations (spermatophylax dry mass and amino acid composition), as well as female feeding duration on these gifts (as a measure of resistance to manipulation). We present the raw data and population mean data for these traits. Spermatophylax dry mass was measured using an electronic balance. Spermatophylax amino acid composition was measured using GC-MS. Female feeding behaviour was measured in behavioural assays., Data is presented in Microsoft Excel., # Sexually antagonistic coevolution of the male nuptial gift and female feeding behaviour in decorated crickets

We subjected replicated populations of decorated crickets to different regimes of interlocus sexual conflict by altering the adult sex ratio to be male-biased (increased conflict) or female-biased (reduced conflict). After 25 generations of experimental evolution we measured how manipulative the nuptial gifts produced by males (the spermatophylax) were. Manipulativeness of the gift is measured by dry mass (measured using an electronic balance) and amino acid composition (measured by GC-MS). We also measured female resistance in these populations as the time the female spent feeding on this gift (through behavioural observations).

## Description of the data and file structure

Microsoft Excel is required to open the data files. We have uploaded 3 files: named \"Dryad_Spermatophylax data_raw\", \"Dryad_Feeding data_raw\" and \"Dryad_mean spermatophylax and feeding data\".

\"Dryad_Sp...