Abstract
AbstractAgonistic behavior can be either extremely variable or extremely conserved among species of the same genus. In general, species with similar morphologies and ecology tend to show similar agonistic behaviors. Understanding the variability of agonistic behavior is essential for elucidating the main drivers of the evolution of aggressive behavior. Aeglidae stands out in this regard because most species inhabit similar environments, integrate the food web similarly and have similar morphology. Thus, our goal was to test how variable is the agonistic behavior in this family. To do this, we performed intraspecific contest of two Chilean species Aegla denticulata denticulata, A. abtao and two Brazilian species A. longirostri and A. manuinflata, qualifying and quantifying their agonistic acts. We performed a principal components analysis for winners, and one for losers, to explore major trends in contest structure. We also performed a one‐way ANOVA, and two GLMs with quasibionomial errors to test for aggressiveness using contest duration, frequency of highly aggressive acts used by winners, and frequency of submissive acts used by losers, respectively. Aegla abtao and A. denticulata performed two exclusive behavioral acts, meral spread and thanatosis, respectively. For winners, PC1 (42.46%) divided the species in two groups: the Chilean species grouped with non‐aggressive acts and low aggressive acts loadings, whereas the Brazilian species grouped with highly aggressive acts and antennal whipping. Losers were not clearly divided. Aegla denticulata winners are less aggressive than the winners of the other species. Contest duration did not differ among species. Thus, aeglids' greatest variation resides in their agonistic repertoire and contest structure, which separate the Chilean species from the Brazilian species. Aegla denticulata was the least aggressive, which is also the most morphologically distinct species. Therefore, our results suggest that morphology and ecology play a great role in shaping aggressiveness, whereas phylogenetic background may shape agonistic repertoire and contest structure.
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