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Pre-mating isolation is determined by larval rearing substrates in cactophilicDrosophila mojavensis. II. Effects of larval substrates on time to copulation, mate choice and mating propensity

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It has been hypothesized that reproductive character displacement has evolved in mainland Sonora, Mexico populations of cactophilicD. mojavensis due to the presence of a sympatric sibling speciesD. arizonae. In laboratory tests using ancestral Baja California populations and derived, sympatric mainland populations, asymmetrical sexual isolation has been observed among populations ofD. mojavensis where mainland females discriminate against Baja males. Effects of different pre-adult rearing environments on adult mating behaviour were assessed by comparing fermenting cactus tissues like those used in nature for breeding with laboratory media because previous studies have employed synthetic growth media for fly growth and development. Significant behavioural isolation was evident in all cases when larvae were reared on laboratory food, but was non-significant when flies were reared on fermenting cactus, except for the cactus used by most mainland populations, consistent with previous studies. Time to copulation of Baja females was greater than mainland females over all substrates, but male time to copulation did not differ between populations. Time to copulation for both sexes was significantly greater when flies were reared on laboratory food with one exception. The degree of behavioural isolation was weakly correlated with time to copulation across food types (Spearman rank correlation = 0.58,p = 0.099). Therefore, use of laboratory media in this and previous studies exaggerated adult pre-mating isolation and time to copulation in comparison to natural breeding substrates. These experiments suggest that a change in host substrates by saprophagous insects (where chemical differences exist between hosts) may have subtle effects on mating behaviour in a manner which promotes low levels of sexual isolation as a by-product of their utilization of a particular substrate during larval development. ForD. mojavensis, these results suggest that over evolutionary time, radiation into a new environment (from Baja to the mainland) allowed utilization of new host plants that may have incidentally promoted the sexual isolation patterns that have been observed within this species.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Syracuse University, 13210, Syracuse, NY, USA

    John C. Brazner

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, 72701, Fayetteville, AR, USA

    William J. Etges

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  1. John C. Brazner
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  2. William J. Etges
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See Etges (1992) for the first paper in this series.

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Brazner, J.C., Etges, W.J. Pre-mating isolation is determined by larval rearing substrates in cactophilicDrosophila mojavensis. II. Effects of larval substrates on time to copulation, mate choice and mating propensity. Evol Ecol 7, 605–624 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01237824

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