William Rice: UCSB Department of Ecology, Evolution & Marine BiologyThe empirical foundation for sexual conflict theory is the unequivocal data from many different taxa demonstrating that females are harmed while interacting with males. But the interpretation of this keystone evidence has been challenged because females may more than compensate the direct costs of interacting with males by the indirect benefits of obtaining higher quality genes for their offspring. A quantification of this trade-off is critical to resolve the controversy. Here I present results from 3 experiments that show that, at least in the D. melanogaster model system, indirect benefits do not off-set direct harm to females due to their interactions with males. I also present evidence, using hemiclonal analysis, that an ongoing arms race between the sexes can be directly measured in this model system.
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