Female mating preference is genetic

Sexual selection and the evolution of preferential mating in ladybirds I. Selection for high and low lines of female preference

“…To exclude it, we tested males and females from the selected line with males and females from the unselected line. Table 3 shows our results (Majerus, O'Donald and Weir, 1982b).…”

“…Majerus, O'Donald and Weir (1982b) analysed these data by comparing the differences between generations 1 and 4 in the selected (S) showing a highly significant increase in the S line compared to the C line. This analysis ignored the data of generations 2 and 3.…”

“…If this is produced by a genetically determined female preference, it should be possible to select for increased preferential mating in the population. By selecting females that had mated with melanic males, Majerus, O'Donald and Weir (1982b) raised the proportion of the preferential matings from 20 per cent to 56 per cent in the course of four generations. They proved that female preference had indeed been selected by the following experiment.…”

Genetic differences in mating success and female choice in seaweed flies (Coelopa frigida)

“…The experimental support for female choice being inherited is more limited. Only in the two-spot ladybird beetle, Adalia bipunctata, does direct evidence exist for a polymorphism with a genetic basis (Majerus et a!., 1982(Majerus et a!., , 1986O'Donald and Majerus, 1985;Majerus, 1986), although convincing indirect evidence has been obtained in Drosophila melanogaster (Heisler, 1984) and the Trinidad guppy, Poecilia reticulata (Breden and Stoner, 1987). We report here an association in seaweed flies between mating success, female choice and the possession of a particular allele at an enzyme-determining locus.…”

The evolutionary history of Drosophila buzzatii. XIV. Larger flies mate more often in nature

“…Two types of sexual selection mechanisms may act in the population: (1) intrasexual selection, involving compe-tition of (usually) males for the possession of females; and (2) intersexual selection, involving the exercise of (usually) female choice for mates. The main objections to the Darwinian theory of sexual selection have been focussed on the latter, yet there are experimental evidences that females may choose between males (Semler, 1971;Thornhill, 1976Thornhill, , 1980Thornhill, , 1983Andersson, 1982;Majerus et a!., 1982;Searcy, 1982;Majerus, 1986;Read, 1986;Houde, 1987).…”