Phenotype-dependent habitat choice is too weak to cause assortative mating between Drosophila melanogaster strains differing in light sensitivity.

ABSTRACT: Matching habitat choice is gaining attention as a mechanism for maintaining biodiversity and driving speciation. It revolves around the idea that individuals select the habitat in which they perceive to obtain greater fitness based on a prior evaluation of their local performance across heterogeneous environments. This results in individuals with similar ecologically relevant traits converging to the same patches, and hence it could indirectly cause assortative mating when mating occurs in those patches. White-eyed mutants of Drosophila fruit flies have a series of disadvantages compared to wild type flies, including a poorer performance under bright light. It has been previously reported that, when given a choice, wild type Drosophila simulans preferred a brightly lit habitat while white-

SUBMITTER: Peralta-Rincon JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7561098 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature