Yliopistosta työelämään : opintopolun työelämäorientaatiota tukemassa

Age-related decrease in male reproductive success and song quality in Drosophila montana

In the present paper, we have studied the effects of aging on male reproductive success and song quality in Drosophila montana .W e analyzed the reproductive success of wild-caught males at their normal breeding age during the mating season and after maintaining the males in laboratory from 1 to 5 months. In line with the mutation accumulation theory of aging, none of the factors affecting the reproductive success of wild-caught males during the mating season were related to male longevity. However, mating activity and progeny production of the males decreased with male age. Interestingly, there was no significant variation in progeny production between males at their normal breeding age, w…

Intraspecific variation in mating behaviour does not cause sexual isolation between Drosophila virilis strains

There is increasing evidence that mate recognition systems vary within species. We studied the courtship rituals of five Drosophila virilis strains to investigate this intraspecific variation. Males that actively and persistently courted the female without paying much attention to the female's behaviour were the most successful at copulating. Intraspecific variation in mating rituals was high, but not as high as at the species level and it was not high enough to cause sexual isolation between the strains. The differences in courtship interactions of the strains reflected their geographical origin. Males from one of the strains did not produce audible song during their courtship, but still m…