TY - JOUR JF - Acarologia T1 - Male mates influence female personality expression in the predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis VL - 66 IS - Suppl SP - 62 EP - 62 PY - 2026 SN - 0044-586X SN - 2107-7207 PB - Les Amis d'Acarologia AU - Peter, Schausberger AU - Thi Hanh, Nguyen AU - Shogo, Usugi AU - Chenhao, Wang AU - Norihide, Hinomoto UR - https://doi.org/10.24349/1rxk-he1x DO - 10.24349/1rxk-he1x DA - 2026-07-20 ET - 2026-07-20 KW - Activity KW - Animal Personality KW - Mating KW - Phytoseiidae KW - Sociability AB - Animal personalities are characterized by within-individual consistency linked to among-individual variability. Personality expression is often dependent on major life history events such as mating and the onset of reproduction. However, while the effects of personality expressed before or during mating on sexual selection are relatively well researched, the influence of male mates on post-mating personality expression of females remains elusive. Here, we hypothesized that in facultatively polyandrous animals, multiple mating increases the females’ assets (i.e. residual reproductive value — RRV), due to direct and/or indirect benefits. Based on the predictions of the asset protection principle, higher RRV should promote behaviors that reduce the risk of fitness loss and hence mediate behavioral repeatability displayed in groups. We tested our hypothesis in group-living predatory mites, Phytoseiulus persimilis. These mites are well suited to address our hypothesis, as they have been shown to gain indirect benefits from multiple mating (Schausberger et al. 2016; Atalay & Schausberger 2018), and female post-mating repeatability in activity is contingent upon the social phenotype of the male mate (Schausberger & Nguyen 2025). Prior to experiments, predatory mite females were presented with one or two mates. Their post-mating repeatability in activity and sociability was then evaluated in groups composed of females of the same and mixed mating types. The groups were videotaped and, from the videos, each mites’ behavior was quantified using automated video-tracking (AnimalTA). Mating frequency had little effect on activity patterns but pronounced effects on sociability traits. Polyandrous females were on average more sociable as well as more repeatable in sociability than monandrous females. We suggest that these behavioral shifts reflect strategies to mitigate inter-individual conflicts within groups to enhance asset protection. Our study suggests that the mating frequency can critically influence female personality expression after mating and highlights the importance of considering mate-related variables in animal personality research. ER -