Figure 6.

Species and sex differences in the effect of side bias on habitat choice: the plot represents species and sex differences in the effect of side bias on habitat choice, as described in the main text. Data are from the second experiment measuring habitat choice as a representation of decision making. The y-axis represents the proportion of time spent on the imitation noni substrate. Lower values closer to 0 indicate a habitat preference for the plain substrate, while higher values closer to 1 indicate a habitat preference for the imitation noni substrate. A value on or near 0.5 (marked by the orange line) indicates no demonstrable habitat preference for either the plain or imitation noni substrates. The x-axis is divided both by sex, as well as the arena orientation i.e., whether imitation noni substrate was on the left or right (N = 526 flies). The box in the plot represents the inter-quartile range of scores, including the middle 50% of scores for the group, with the median score represented by the middle quartile mark (or line). The whiskers represent the score ranges outside the inter-quartile range, including the top 25% of scores for the group in the upper whisker, and the bottom 25% of scores in the lower whisker. The dots beyond the whiskers represent outlier values. Our findings indicated that species and sexes differed significantly in habitat choice. Additionally, a left-side bias significantly influenced habitat choice, with females showing a stronger effect of left-side bias on habitat choice than males.