Are males more scared of predators? Differential change in metabolic rate between males and females under predation risk

The non-consumptive effects of predation contribute to reduce preys' fitness. In this way, predation imposes a cost to animals, not only through direct consumption, but also as an energetic cost. One way used to estimate this cost in the past has been to measure the production of CO₂ to estimate the change in metabolic rate because of predation. It has been proposed that this change is mediated by the insect stress neurohormone octopamine. Here we study the change in metabolic rate of the black field cricket (Teleogryllus commodus), and how the production of CO₂ varies when a chemical cue from a sympatric predator is added. We hypothesised that after the addition of a predatory cue, the metabolic rate will increase. Moreover, since the pressure of predation is stronger on females, we propose that females will have a greater increase in the CO₂ produce as consequence of the added cues from the predator. Our results confirmed our first hypothesis, showing an almost two-fold increase in CO₂ when the predatory cue was added. However, males were the ones that showed a greater increase, in opposition to our second hypothesis. We put these results in the context of the escape theory and, in particular, the “landscape of fear” hypothesis. Also, because the timing between the increase of metabolic rate we measure here and the release of octopamine reported in previous studies do not match, we reject the idea that octopamine causes the increase in metabolism.