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Influence of Inbreeding on Female Mate Choice in Two Species of Drosophila

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Abstract

Many organisms have been reported to choose their mates in order to increase the heterozygosity of their offspring by avoiding mating with relatives or homozygous individuals. Most previous studies using Drosophila melanogaster have used artificial chromosomes or extreme inbreeding treatments, situations unlikely to be matched in nature. Additionally, few studies have examined the interaction between female inbreeding status and her choice of mate. Using females and males from populations that had experienced either random mating or one generation of sib-sib inbreeding, we measured the preferences of females for males. Our results indicate that outbred males were chosen more often than inbred males and that this preference may be more pronounced in outbred females than in inbred ones.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Alma Madrigal for her knowledge of fly maintenance, Kriska Parda for help with fly observations, and Julio Castro for the development of the mating contraptions used in this experiment. We would like to thank Michael Rose for supplying the Rose line. This research was funded by the Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancements, grant number 07298409. We also thank the anonymous reviewers of our manuscript for their suggestions.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, California State University Long Beach, Hall of Science 104 1250 Bellflower Blvd, Long Beach, CA, 90840, USA

    Amberle A. McKee, Shanna M. Newton & Ashley J. R. Carter

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  1. Amberle A. McKee
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  2. Shanna M. Newton
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  3. Ashley J. R. Carter
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Correspondence to Ashley J. R. Carter.

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McKee, A.A., Newton, S.M. & Carter, A.J.R. Influence of Inbreeding on Female Mate Choice in Two Species of Drosophila . J Insect Behav 27, 613–625 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-014-9453-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-014-9453-5

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