Courtship Behaviour in <i>Drosophila</i>: Sexual Isolation or Sexual Selection?

Schilcher, Florian von; Dow, Maurice A.

doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1977.tb00077.x

Cited by 43 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…In total, our results indicate that while in allopatry, sexual isolation reflected male courtship preferences more than female copulation preferences (in principle or if species come back together), in sympatry sexual isolation was influenced much more by divergence in female copulation preferences. Thus, on average, female copulation preferences contributed 75% toward total sexual isolation in sympatry despite males having temporal precedence in the behavioral interaction (Spieth ; von Schilcher and Dow ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…). Because males initiate courtship in Drosophila , it has been assumed that male preferences determine isolation first, after which females exercise their preference to copulate (Spieth ; von Schilcher and Dow ). Following this approach, we use the equation:

\begin{matrix} true \\ left Total isolation = ♂ courtship preference index \\ left + false[((), 1 - ♂ courtship preference index) \\ left \times ♀ copulation preference index false] \end{matrix}

…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The evolution of male and female mating preferences inDrosophilaspeciation*

Yukilevich

Peterson

2019

Evolution

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The relative importance of male and female mating preferences in causing sexual isolation between species remains a major unresolved question in speciation. Despite previous work showing that male courtship bias and/or female copulation bias for conspecifics occur in many taxa, the present study is one of the first large‐scale works to study their relative divergence. To achieve this, we used data from the literature and present experiments across 66 Drosophila species pairs. Our results revealed that male and female mate preferences are both ubiquitous in Drosophila but evolved largely independently, suggesting different underlying evolutionary and genetic mechanisms. Moreover, their relative divergence strongly depends on the geographical relationship of species. Between allopatric species, male courtship and female copulation preferences diverged at very similar rates, evolving approximately linearly with time of divergence. In sharp contrast, between sympatric species pairs, female preferences diverged much more rapidly than male preferences and were the only drivers of enhanced sexual isolation in sympatry and Reproductive Character Displacement (RCD). Not only does this result suggest that females are primarily responsible for such processes as reinforcement, but it also implies that evolved female preferences may reduce selection for further divergence of male courtship preferences in sympatry.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

\begin{matrix} true \\ left Total isolation = ♂ courtship preference index \\ left + false[((), 1 - ♂ courtship preference index) \\ left \times ♀ copulation preference index false] \end{matrix}

…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of male and female mating preferences inDrosophilaspeciation*

Yukilevich

Peterson

2019

Evolution

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“…For example, males from the two sibling species, D. affinis and D. algonquin, do not initiate courtship or attempt copulation with non-con-specific females when placed in mixed-species groups (Miller, 1950). Similarly, D. melanogaster males perform little or no courtship toward two sibling species, D. simulans and D. mauritiana (Manning, 1959;Schilder & Dow, 1977;Robertson, 1983). In this study, D. melanogaster males performed no courtship in response to D. immigrans females, which are sympatric with D. melanogaster in the Philadelphia area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Interspecific Courtship on Mating Success in Drosophila melanogaster

Dawson¹,

McRobert²

2011

IJPS

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Two sympatric, distantly related Drosophila species, D. melanogaster and D. affinis have been shown to interact sexually. Mature D. melanogaster males perform vigorous courtship in response to both virgin and mated D. affinis females, but perform no courtship in response to virgin females of another sympatric species, D. immigrans. To determine whether inter-specific courtship might interfere with mating success and fitness, D. affinis females were used as 'interference sex objects' in tests where D. melanogaster males had access to con-specific females. In these tests the presence of D. affinis females was shown to significantly reduce the mating success of D. melanogaster males. In comparison, the presence of mated D. melanogaster females or virgin D. immigrans females had no impact on the mating success of D. melanogaster males in similar tests.

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“…Behavioral isolation is the reduction in gene flow between species or populations due to divergent mating signals and preferences and is recognized as a powerful reproductive barrier in nature (Coyne & Orr, ). While behavioral isolation can arise via both male and female preferences (Lande, ; von Schilcher & Dow, ), the majority of studies, especially those in sexually dimorphic species, focus on divergence in female mating preferences as the driving force behind isolation (Coyne & Orr, ; Panhuis, Butlin, Zuk, & Tregenza, ; Ritchie, ). This is due, in part, to the general characterization of females as choosy and males as ornamented, competitive, and indiscriminate in their mate choice (Andersson, ; Bateman, ; Trivers, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reinforcement in the banded darter Etheostoma zonale: The effect of sex and sympatry on preferences

Roberts

Mendelson

2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Reinforcement occurs when selection against hybrid offspring strengthens behavioral isolation between parental species and may be an important factor in speciation. Theoretical models and experimental evidence indicate that both female and male preferences can be strengthened upon secondary contact via reinforcement. However, the question remains whether this process is more likely to affect the preferences of one sex or the other. Males of polygynous species are often predicted to exhibit weaker preferences than females, potentially limiting the ability for reinforcement to shape male preferences. Yet, in darters (Percidae: Etheostoma), male preference for conspecific mates appears to arise before female preferences during the early stages of allopatric speciation, and research suggests that male, but not female, preferences become reinforced upon secondary contact. In the current study, we aimed to determine whether the geographically widespread darter species Etheostoma zonale exhibits a signature of reinforcement, by comparing the strength of preference for conspecific mates between populations that are sympatric and allopatric with respect to a close congener, E. barrenense. We examined the strength of preference for conspecifics for males and females separately to determine whether the preferences of one or both sexes have been strengthened by reinforcement. Our results show that both sexes of E. zonale from sympatric populations exhibit stronger conspecific preferences than E. zonale from allopatric populations, but that female preferences appear to be more strongly reinforced than male preferences. Results therefore suggest that reinforcement of female preferences may promote behavioral isolation upon secondary contact, even in a genus that is characterized by pervasive male mate choice.

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Courtship Behaviour in Drosophila: Sexual Isolation or Sexual Selection?

Cited by 43 publications

References 23 publications

The evolution of male and female mating preferences inDrosophilaspeciation*

The evolution of male and female mating preferences inDrosophilaspeciation*

The Effects of Interspecific Courtship on Mating Success in Drosophila melanogaster

Reinforcement in the banded darter Etheostoma zonale: The effect of sex and sympatry on preferences

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