Effects of male and female personality on sexual cannibalism in the springbok mantis

Abstract

Behaviours that are consistent across contexts (also known as behavioural syndromes) can have evolutionary implications, but their role in scenarios where the sexes conflict, such as sexual cannibalism, is poorly understood. While some research has focused on aggressive personality in females and its role in determining cannibalistic attack, effects of male personality have rarely been explored. Male activity as a personality trait could be an important mediator of sexual cannibalism if it modulates how quickly or carelessly males approach females, but such a relationship has never been tested. Here, we used the springbok mantis, Miomantis caffra, to explore effects of male activity levels and female aggressiveness on mating behaviour and sexual cannibalism. We found that male activity and subadult female aggressiveness were repeatable, although the latter only marginally so. Females that were aggressive as juveniles were not more likely to cannibalize males when adult following physical interaction, but males made physical contact with these females sooner and more often. More active males were both faster and more likely to interact with females, but were not more likely to be cannibalized in the process. We also found that female age influenced sexual interactions: younger females were more likely to cannibalize males. Taken together, our results suggest that both male and female personality influence the likelihood of sexual encounter, but have little effect on the likelihood of cannibalism. Our study highlights the potential for the personality traits of both sexes to influence mating dynamics in sexually cannibalistic species.