The effects of exposure to predators on personality and plasticity

Abstract

Past experiences are known to affect average behavior but effects on "animal personality", and plasticity are less well studied. To determine whether experience with predators influences these aspects, we compared the behavior of Gryllodes sigillatus before and after exposure to live predators. We found that emergence from shelter and distance moved during open-field trials (activity) changed after exposure, with individuals becoming less likely to emerge from shelters but more active when deprived of shelter. We also found that plasticity in activity increased after exposure to predators and some indications that differences among individuals (i.e. "personality") in emergence from shelter and the amount of an arena investigated increased after exposure. Our results demonstrate that experience with predators affects not only the average behavior of individuals but also how individuals differ from each other--and their own prior behavior--even when all individuals have the same experiences.