This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing theresources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject andinvestigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source,and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed isfor the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator.Aggression is a ubiquitous component of social behavior across the animal kingdom. The signals exchanged in aggressive interactions are a great functional importance due to their role in determining social status and in mediating access to resources. Size relationships exert a strong influence on aggressive contests. Many aggressive signals may function to advertise size, and the assessment of rival size appears to play an important role in governing the course and the outcome of aggressive contests. The neural, sensory, genetic and cognitive mechanisms that permit such assessments to be performed remain largely unexplored. These mechanisms are important to elucidate in order to understand the evolution and function of aggressive signals. Stalk-eyed flies exhibit morphological specializations, combat rituals, and visual capabilities that indicate an unusually promising system for the study of visually mediated mechanisms of rival size assessment. The goal of the current proposal is to establish stalk-eyed flies as a model system for the study of rival size assessment by (a) testing whether rival size is assessed in contests, (b) examining at what stage or stages in the agonistic sequence this assessment is made, and (c) comparing the importance of eye stalks versus the offensive weapon in rival assessment.
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