EFFECTS OF ARTIFICIAL STABILIZING SELECTION ON STERNOPLEURAL BRISTLE PHENOTYPES IN DROSOPHILA-ANANASSAE

Experiments were conducted to test the effect of stabilizing selection on sternopleural bristle number in Drosophila ananassae. Selection fo r intermediate bristle phenotypes was carried out through 15 generatio ns. Two replicates of selection line and a control line without select ion were maintained. The results show that mean number of bristles rem ained close to the base population mean but fluctuation in bristle num ber was more in the control line than in both replicates of selection line. The phenotypic variance and coefficient of variaton decreased in both replicates of selection line as compared to the control line. Th ese results indicate that stabilizing selection for sternopleural bris tle number was effective in D. ananassae.