Drosophila pupation behavior in the wild
Abstract
We investigated pupa distributions of D. simulans, D. buzzatii, D. melanogaster,
D. immigrans and D. hydei on a number of natural breeding sites. Pupae of all five species
showed aggregated distributions, which prompted us to examine these aggregations in a more
detail for two species that commonly co-occur in breeding sites, D. simulans and D. buzzatii.
Wefound that pupae of both species tend to be aggregated in conspecific clusters. Subsequent
experiments revealed that both species are attracted to the odors of other larvae, though only
D. buzzatii differentiated between conspecifics and heterospecifics (they preferred conspecific).
Furthermore, third instar larvae of both species preferred more alkaline substrates.
Altogether, our results demonstrate that Drosophila species form conspecific pupa aggregations
in natural breeding sites, and that pupation site selection depends on interactions
among conspecific and heterospecific larvae and on chemical characteristics of the breeding
sites.
Patrocinador
This work was supported by Departamento
de Investigación y Desarrollo [grant number DI 2006 ENL 06/07, Universidad de Chile], and Fondo
Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologı´a [FONDECYT 1020130].
Quote Item
Evol Ecol (2010) 24:347–358
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