Endoparasites decrease secondary sexual character size in the banded demoiselle.

What is it about?

We investigated how the combined effect of endoparasites and the presence of a competitor influences the size of wing spots that the banded demoiselle males have. We found that populations that had parasites had smaller wing spots. We also found that contrary to previous studies, the presence of a competitor did not decrease the wing spot size.

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Why is it important?

Because the banded demoiselle males use melanin both in parasite defense and making wing spots, we found a trade-off between these two mechanisms. This finding highlights the importance of parasites in ecological studies. We also found, contrary to previous results, that the presence of a competitor did not decrease the size of wing spots, demonstrating how complex and diverse interspecies effect can be.