EARLY VISUAL EXPERIENCE AFFECTS MATE CHOICE OF DROSOPHILA-MELANOGASTER

Experience-dependent development of the nervous system is now recogniz ed among insects, in which its functional significance can be studied readily. Depriving normal Drosophila melanogaster of visual stimulatio n during their first few days of adult life ('dark-rearing') had a dra matic effect on mate choice. Dark-reared males were at a disadvantage when they competed with males reared in alternating light-dark cycles ('light-rearing') for light-reared females. Dark-rearing also affected reproductive success when deprived males or females were paired with light-reared flies of the opposite sex; the pairs that had the same re aring histories had higher copulation frequencies and lower copulation latencies than those that did not. Dark-reared males tested with ligh t-reared females under dim red light to reduce the use of visual cues were less successful at copulating than light-reared control males. Th e effects of dark-rearing thus may not be limited to the visual system . (C) 1995 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour