Prepupal building behavior in Drosophila melanogaster and its evolution under resource and time constraints.

ABSTRACT: Structures built by animals are a widespread and ecologically important 'extended phenotype'. While its taxonomic diversity has been well described, factors affecting short-term evolution of building behavior within a species have received little experimental attention. Here we describe how, given the opportunity, wandering Drosophila melanogaster larvae often build long tunnels in agar substrates and embed their pupae within them. These embedded larvae are characterized by a longer egg-to-pupariation developmental time than larvae that pupate on the surface. Assuming that such building behaviors are likely to be energetically costly and/or time consuming, we hypothesized that they should evolve to be less pronounced under resource or time limitation. In accord with this prediction, larvae

SUBMITTER: Narasimha S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4324899 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature