Sunday, October 23, 2011

Friberg, U. & Arnqvist, G. 2003. Fitness effects of female mate choice: preferred males are detrimental for Drosophila melanogaster females. J. Evol. Biol. 16: 797-811.

The authors investigated female fitness and how it is affected by reproducing with large or small males, using two different male densities and male size as a proxy for male attractiveness. The results indicated that females housed with large males had reduced lifespans and aged at an accelerated rate compared with females housed with small males. In addition, increased male density depressed female fitness even further. The authors suggest that female mate choice in Drosophila melanogaster is, in part, a by-product of sexual conflict over the mating rate. This study is relevant to my research as it involves determining size differences in males by thorax length, something which I may use as the variable for female choice. The study also contains relevant information regarding female mate choice as a function of male size and if this is correlated with direct benefits, indirect benefits, and female fitness

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