Volatile chemical emission as a weapon of rearguard action: a game-theoretic model of contest behavior
We use a game-theoretic model to explore whether volatile chemical (spiroacetal) emissions can serve as a weapon of rearguard action. Our basic model explores whether such emissions serve as a means of temporary withdrawal, preventing the winner of the current round of a contest from translating its...
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| Format: | Article |
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Springer
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45364/ |
| _version_ | 1848797117484630016 |
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| author | Mesterton-Gibbons, Mike Dai, Yao Goubault, Marlene Hardy, Ian C.W. |
| author_facet | Mesterton-Gibbons, Mike Dai, Yao Goubault, Marlene Hardy, Ian C.W. |
| author_sort | Mesterton-Gibbons, Mike |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | We use a game-theoretic model to explore whether volatile chemical (spiroacetal) emissions can serve as a weapon of rearguard action. Our basic model explores whether such emissions serve as a means of temporary withdrawal, preventing the winner of the current round of a contest from translating its victory into permanent possession of a contested resource. A variant of this model explores an alternative possibility, namely, that such emissions serve as a means of permanent retreat, attempting to prevent a winner from inflicting costs on a fleeing loser. Our results confirm that the underlying logic of either interpretation of weapons of rearguard action is sound; however, empirical observations on parasitoid wasp contests suggest that the more likely function of chemical weapons is to serve as a means of temporary withdrawal. While our work is centered around the particular biology of contest behavior in parasitoid wasps, it also provides the first contest model to explicitly consider self-inflicted damage costs, and thus responds to a recent call by empiricists for theory in this area. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:58:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-45364 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:58:47Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Springer |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-453642020-05-04T19:04:30Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45364/ Volatile chemical emission as a weapon of rearguard action: a game-theoretic model of contest behavior Mesterton-Gibbons, Mike Dai, Yao Goubault, Marlene Hardy, Ian C.W. We use a game-theoretic model to explore whether volatile chemical (spiroacetal) emissions can serve as a weapon of rearguard action. Our basic model explores whether such emissions serve as a means of temporary withdrawal, preventing the winner of the current round of a contest from translating its victory into permanent possession of a contested resource. A variant of this model explores an alternative possibility, namely, that such emissions serve as a means of permanent retreat, attempting to prevent a winner from inflicting costs on a fleeing loser. Our results confirm that the underlying logic of either interpretation of weapons of rearguard action is sound; however, empirical observations on parasitoid wasp contests suggest that the more likely function of chemical weapons is to serve as a means of temporary withdrawal. While our work is centered around the particular biology of contest behavior in parasitoid wasps, it also provides the first contest model to explicitly consider self-inflicted damage costs, and thus responds to a recent call by empiricists for theory in this area. Springer 2017-09-05 Article PeerReviewed Mesterton-Gibbons, Mike, Dai, Yao, Goubault, Marlene and Hardy, Ian C.W. (2017) Volatile chemical emission as a weapon of rearguard action: a game-theoretic model of contest behavior. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 79 (11). pp. 2413-2449. ISSN 0092-8240 spiroacetal ; Goniozus ; self-inflicted damage https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11538-017-0335-9 doi:10.1007/s11538-017-0335-9 doi:10.1007/s11538-017-0335-9 |
| spellingShingle | spiroacetal ; Goniozus ; self-inflicted damage Mesterton-Gibbons, Mike Dai, Yao Goubault, Marlene Hardy, Ian C.W. Volatile chemical emission as a weapon of rearguard action: a game-theoretic model of contest behavior |
| title | Volatile chemical emission as a weapon of rearguard action: a game-theoretic model of contest behavior |
| title_full | Volatile chemical emission as a weapon of rearguard action: a game-theoretic model of contest behavior |
| title_fullStr | Volatile chemical emission as a weapon of rearguard action: a game-theoretic model of contest behavior |
| title_full_unstemmed | Volatile chemical emission as a weapon of rearguard action: a game-theoretic model of contest behavior |
| title_short | Volatile chemical emission as a weapon of rearguard action: a game-theoretic model of contest behavior |
| title_sort | volatile chemical emission as a weapon of rearguard action: a game-theoretic model of contest behavior |
| topic | spiroacetal ; Goniozus ; self-inflicted damage |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45364/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45364/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45364/ |