Experimental evidence that local interactions select against selfish behaviour

How social behaviours evolve remains one of the most debated questions in evolutionary biology. An important theoretical prediction is that when organisms interact locally due to limited dispersal or strong social ties, the population structure that emerges may favour cooperation over antagonism. We carry out an experimental test of this theory by directly manipulating population spatial structure in an insect laboratory model system and measuring the impact on the evolution of the extreme selfish behaviour of cannibalism. We show that, as predicted by the theory, Indian meal moth larvae that evolved in environments with more limited dispersal are selected for lower rates of cannibalism. This is important because it demonstrates that local interactions select against selfish behaviour. Therefore, the ubiquitous variation in population structure that we see in nature is a simple mechanism that can help to explain the variation in selfish and cooperative behaviours that we see in nature.

Automated summary

The study experimentally verified the impact of local interactions on the evolution of cannibalistic behavior. The results showed that Indian meal moth larvae evolved in environments with limited dispersal were selected for lower rates of cannibalism, demonstrating that local interactions can select against selfish behavior. This suggests that the variation in population structure plays a key role in explaining the variation in selfish and cooperative behaviors observed in nature.