Does Experience Affect the Outcome of Male-Male Contests in the Burying Beetle, Nicrophorus quadripunctatus?

Abstract

The bigger individual in a fight usually wins unless the smaller individual is a resident or has recently won a fight. I conducted three experiments on the effects of body size, residency, and fight history on the outcome of male-male fights in a burying beetle. Fights were staged between an intruding male and the male of a male-female pair. When males differed in size, the larger male usually won regardless of residency or individual fight histories. Residents and winners of previous fights won only when competing males were similar in size. Hence, male body size largely determines the outcomes of fights in this beetle.