Male Aggregation Pheromones Inhibit Ideal Free Habitat Selection in Red Flour Beetles (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Tribolium castaneum</Emphasis>)

The ideal free distribution (IFD) predicts that individuals should be distributed between habitats in proportion to habitat suitability such that mean fitness is equal in each habitat. The IFD is useful in studies examining habitat selection, yet its key assumptions are often violated and the expected IFDs are not consistently detected. While the use of aggregation pheromones by insects is expected to evolve in systems that experience positive density dependence (Allee effect), through a series of experiments we test the hypothesis that aggregation pheromones may limit the ability of individuals to achieve an IFD. Using red flour beetles (Tribolium castaneum), we specifically test the prediction that beetles in groups with an equal sex ratio or in the presence of an artificial aggregation pheromone will deviate from an IFD, whereas female-only groups will achieve an IFD. We also test the hypothesis that aggregation pheromones evolved to promote Allee effects by testing the prediction that beetle fitness will show positive density dependence at low densities. Consistent with our first hypothesis, female groups achieved an IFD, while mixed sex groups and females in the presence of an aggregation pheromone in the low food habitat under-matched the IFD. We found no evidence of Allee effects at low density, but we did find evidence of strong negative density dependence. We demonstrate that the use of aggregation pheromones may negatively impact a population’s ability to achieve an IFD and cast doubt on the hypothesis that male aggregation pheromones evolve to promote Allee effects.