Influence of body size in mating success in three sympatric species of Drosophila

Krishna, M. S. and Narayan, Sridhar (2003) Influence of body size in mating success in three sympatric species of Drosophila. Italian Journal of Zoology, 70 (1). pp. 47-52. ISSN 1748-5851

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Abstract

Influence of male and female body size in courtship and mating success was studied in three sympatric species of Drosopbila: D. rajasekari (medium-sized flies), D. bipectinata (small-sized flies) and D. nasuta (large-sized flies) using male choice, female choice and pair-wise matings. In pair-wise mating, in all the above species mating latency was negatively correlated with male and female wing length; long-winged flies performed courtship and mating activities with greater intensity than did short-winged flies. in female choice mating, too, long-winged males had greater mating success than short-winged ones, while in male choice mating, long-winged males mated more selectively with long-winged females, and short-winged males with short-winged females indicating size-assortative mating to be present in all three sympatric species. Thus, this study suggests that in Drosophila, irrespective of species size, long-winged flies have greater intensity in courtship activities and mating success, confirming the "bigger is better" hypothesis and that sexual selection favours large size.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	B Life Science > Zoology
Divisions:	Department of > Zoology
Depositing User:	LA manjunath user
Date Deposited:	24 Sep 2019 05:11
Last Modified:	16 Nov 2019 09:51
URI:	http://eprints.uni-mysore.ac.in/id/eprint/8406

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