TY - JOUR
T1 - Aggression and courtship differences found in Drosophila melanogaster from two different microclimates at Evolution Canyon, Israel
AU - Palavicino-Maggio, Caroline B.
AU - Trannoy, Séverine
AU - Holton, Kristina M.
AU - Song, Xiaoying
AU - Li, Kexin
AU - Nevo, Eviatar
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, The Author(s).
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - Aggression and courtship behavior were examined of wild Drosophila melanogaster flies isolated from two contrasting microclimates found at Evolution Canyon in Mt. Carmel, Israel: an African-like dry tropical Slope (AS) and a European-like humid temperate Slope (ES), separated by 250 meters. Studies were carried out to ask whether behavioral differences existed between the two populations obtained from opposite slopes with divergent microclimates in Israel. First, we measured and compared intraslope aggression between same sex fly pairings collected from the same slope. Both male and female flies displayed similar fighting abilities from both slopes. ES males, however, from the humid biome, showed a tendency to lunge more per aggressive encounter, compared with AS males from the dry biome. Next, we tested interslope aggression by pairing flies from opposite slopes. ES males displayed higher numbers of lunges, and won more fights against their AS opponents. We also observed enhanced courtship performances in ES compared to AS males. The fighting and courtship superiority seen in ES males could reinforce fitness and pre-mating reproductive isolation mechanisms that underlie incipient sympatric speciation. This may support an evolutionary advantage of adaptively divergent fruit fly aggression phenotypes from different environments.
AB - Aggression and courtship behavior were examined of wild Drosophila melanogaster flies isolated from two contrasting microclimates found at Evolution Canyon in Mt. Carmel, Israel: an African-like dry tropical Slope (AS) and a European-like humid temperate Slope (ES), separated by 250 meters. Studies were carried out to ask whether behavioral differences existed between the two populations obtained from opposite slopes with divergent microclimates in Israel. First, we measured and compared intraslope aggression between same sex fly pairings collected from the same slope. Both male and female flies displayed similar fighting abilities from both slopes. ES males, however, from the humid biome, showed a tendency to lunge more per aggressive encounter, compared with AS males from the dry biome. Next, we tested interslope aggression by pairing flies from opposite slopes. ES males displayed higher numbers of lunges, and won more fights against their AS opponents. We also observed enhanced courtship performances in ES compared to AS males. The fighting and courtship superiority seen in ES males could reinforce fitness and pre-mating reproductive isolation mechanisms that underlie incipient sympatric speciation. This may support an evolutionary advantage of adaptively divergent fruit fly aggression phenotypes from different environments.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85062766776&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-019-40701-8
DO - 10.1038/s41598-019-40701-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 30858499
AN - SCOPUS:85062766776
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 9
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 4084
ER -