Personality traits influence contest outcome, and vice versa, in a territorial butterfly.

ABSTRACT: Holding a territory is often crucial in order to acquire key resources, including mating partners. However, few studies have investigated the role of animal personality in the context of territorial conflicts and how the contest outcome itself may influence personality traits. We studied personality in male Speckled wood butterflies, Pararge aegeria, before and after territorial contests for sunspot territories. Before interactions, boldness decreased with age, while activity and exploration were only influenced by ambient conditions. Neither age nor morphology did influence the probability to win contests, but winners were more active and more explorative than losers and, moreover, males that received a red wing mark were more likely to be winners. Butterflies that lost a contest showed p

SUBMITTER: Kaiser A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6391398 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature