Caged heat: Mesquite bugs battle in a plastic cup—for science!

Scientists at the University of Arizona set up their own "Bug Fight Club" in the lab, staging wrestling matches between insects to learn more about defensive structures and the evolution of weapons in the animal kingdom. They outlined their findings in two separate papers, one published last fall in the journal Functional Ecology and the other published last month in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Intraspecies battle is commonly found in nature, usually over competition for limited resources (mates, food, or shelter). According to the authors, it's generally been assumed that whichever creature inflicts the most damage wins the fight. That's one possible explanation for why so many species have evolved various defensive structures to protect them from damage during a fight. For instance, goats have dermal shields, crocodiles sport dorsal osteoderms, and mantis shrimp boast armored telsons. But do these structures actually influence the outcomes of fights?

"Biologists have generally assumed that the individual who inflicts more damage on their opponent will be more likely to win a given fight," said co-author John J. Wiens of the University of Arizona while explaining the reasoning behind Bug Fight Club. "Surprisingly, this fundamental assumption had yet to be tested in an experimental study."

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