In many species, the context of a social environment can have substantial effects on individual reproductive behaviours.
In fruit flies, males that are housed in a vial with other competitors (percieve high-risk of sperm competiton) transfer a greater volume of ejaculate compared to flies housed in a vial alone (percieve low-risk of sperm competition).
The contents of this ejaculate can have negative effects on the fitness of females by reducing their lifespan.
In this project, I study how the effect of previous competition influences male reproductive behaviours, and how these behavioural differences influence the fitness of the females that they mate with.