Learning decreases heterospecific courtship and mating in fruit flies.

نویسنده

  • Reuven Dukas
چکیده

Recent theory and data suggest that adaptive use of learning in the context of sexual behaviour could contribute to assortative mating. Experiments examining this issue indicated that male Drosophila persimilis that experienced courtship and rejection by heterospecific females exhibited significantly lower levels of heterospecific courtship and mating compared with those of inexperienced males. These results indicate that experience in the context of sexual behaviour in fruit flies could reduce gene flow between diverging populations, which may contribute to incipient speciation.

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Learning magnifies individual variation in heterospecific mating propensity

Keywords: assortative mating Drosophila persimilis Drosophila pseudoobscura fruit fly learning Recent research indicating learning in the context of sexual behaviour in fruit flies suggests that learning could increase levels of assortative mating between partially diverged populations. We present a graphic model examining the role of learning and a series of experiments evaluating assumptions ...

متن کامل

Causes and consequences of maleemale courtship in fruit flies

Keywords: courtship Drosophila melanogaster fruit fly homosexual behaviour learning The mechanisms maintaining homosexual behaviour in animals are not well understood. In fruit flies, where maleemale courtship is prevalent, it has been suggested that young males gain from being courted by mature males, perhaps through learning. I conducted two series of experiments to critically examine why mat...

متن کامل

Experience improves courtship in male fruit flies

Much of the research on learning in fruit flies has focused on the genetic and cellular basis of learning. The evolutionary relevance of learning in these tiny, short-lived insects is not well understood. Relying on the knowledge that male fruit flies learn in the context of courtship, I tested whether such learning improves male courtship. I found, first, that compared with inexperienced males...

متن کامل

Fruit fly courtship: The female perspective

Research on fruit fly courtship has mostly focused on males’ behavioral repertoire whereas females have been assumed to respond by either rejecting or accepting males. In many fruit fly species including Drosophila melanogaster, however, mating typically follows an extended period of courtship, which provides ample opportunities for females to inform males about their likelihood of mating. Our ...

متن کامل

Male fruit f lies learn to avoid interspecific courtship

Experimental data suggest, and theoretical models typically assume, that males of many fruit flies (Drosophila spp) are at least partially indiscriminate while searching for mates, and that it is mostly the females who exert selective mate choice, which can lead to incipient speciation. Evidence on learning by male D. melanogaster in the context of courtship, however, raises the possibility tha...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

عنوان ژورنال:
  • Biology letters

دوره 4 6  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2008