Fig. 1

Overview of the study setups. One male (grey) was given the choice between two engorged females (black) in two different setups: an arena (a) and a horizontal tube (b). Females were weighed before the experiment and randomly assigned to a test. a In the arena setup, the two female ticks were put upside down, 8 cm apart from each other, while the male tick was placed at a distance of 9.85 cm from each female. A plastic dome (blue) prevented ticks from escaping, while keeping the arena free from uncontrolled airflow. b In the horizontal tube setup, female ticks were placed 14 cm apart, and a plastic mesh (dashed lines) prevented them from being visible to the male tick. A plastic cork (brown) sealed the entrance of the horizontal tube