Rapid wing size evolution in African fig flies (Zaprionus indianus) following temperate colonization.

ABSTRACT: Invasive species often encounter novel selective pressures in their invaded range, and understanding their potential for rapid evolution can offer insight toward evolutionary processes and the factors that drive invasion success. Zaprionus indianus is an invasive drosophilid native to Africa that reached Florida in 2005 and likely reestablishes temperate North American populations each year. We addressed two evolutionary questions in this system: First, do populations evolve phenotypic changes in the generations immediately following colonization of temperate environments? Second, does Z. indianus evolve directional phenotypic changes along a latitudinal cline? We established isofemale lines from wild collections and measured twelve ecologically relevant phenotypes, using a reference strai

SUBMITTER: Gray WJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12445724 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature