Selection may act on the weakest link in fitness to change how a species ad
apts to an environmental stress. For many species, this limitation may be r
eproduction. After adult Drosophila melanogaster, Drosophila simulans, and
Drosophila mojavensis males were exposed to varying levels of thermal stres
s well below those that endanger life, courtship and mating frequency decli
ned. The regression coefficients of both courtship and mating success did n
ot differ significantly between D. melanogaster and D. simulans males. In c
ontrast, significant differences were present between the two cosmopolitan
species and D. mojavensis. Courtship frequency decreased at a much slower r
ate in D. mojavensis than in D. melanogaster and D. simulans, and while hea
t-stressed D. mojavensis males continued to court, many did not mate. In th
e cosmopolitan species, courting males almost always mated successfully. Co
urtship behaviors, including wing waving, were observed in D. mojavensis at
temperatures that prohibited flight, while flight, courtship, and mating w
ere knocked out simultaneously in D. melanogaster. One possible explanation
for decreased flight ability and courtship success may be the reduced heat
shock response in the flight muscle tissue because Hsp70 expression was lo
west in the thoracic tissue of both D. melanogaster and D. mojavensis.