Data from: Synchronising anti-predator behaviour in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum

In many animals, a phenomenon is often observed in which behaviour depends
on population density and many individuals within the group synchronise
their state of behaviour to some extent, and theoretical studies have
suggested that this synchronisation phenomenon is adaptive for predation
avoidance. Moreover, death-feigning behaviour (DF) has been observed as an
anti-predator strategy in many animals. There are large individual
differences in the duration of DF, and the optimal duration of DF often
varies depending on the situation. Therefore, although it is expected that
prey may synchronise with others around them for an optimal DF duration,
there are few experimental studies testing this hypothesis. This study
investigated whether DF duration varies with and without other
individuals, and whether it synchronised with the DF duration of other
individuals, in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. This study used
populations with genetically longer (L-population) and shorter
(S-population) DF duration and measured DF duration when maintained alone
and cohabitated with individuals from the L- and S-populations,
respectively. The results showed that the DF duration of individuals
living alone increased significantly compared to pre-treatment. Moreover,
individuals that cohabitated with S populations were significantly shorter
after cohabitation, but the presence of the L population did not cause any
changes in how individuals synchronised their activities. When many
individuals had shorter DF durations, DF was synchronised towards shorter
durations. This is the first study to illustrate the synchronisation of
anti-predator behaviour in terms of DF behaviour.