Mate choice in Drosophila melanogaster and D-sechellia: criteria and theirvariation depending on courtship song

Courtship song is one of the most important male signals in Drosophila mati ng. A female D. melanogaster copulates more readily when given a conspecifi c type of courtship song. Female D. melanogaster accepted winged D. sechell ia more than wingless ones in a no choice test. Copulation frequencies vari ed between strains and were significantly correlated with male mating prope nsity of D. sechellia. Females from three of five strains of D. sechellia a ccepted winged D. melanogaster less than wingless ones in no choice tests, suggesting that D. melanogaster songs reduce mating in D. sechellia females . Multiple choice tests showed that males prefer conspecifics. In female ch oice tests, D. melanogaster females copulated with winged heterospecific D. sechellia males more than with wingless conspecific D. melanogaster males in the confined condition, suggesting that song differences between D. mela nogaster and D. sechellia affect D. melanogaster females less than the abse nce of courtship song. (C) 2000 The Association for the Study of Animal Beh aviour.