Pupation site preference selection in Drosophila jambulina

Abstract

Larvae of three latitudinally different populations of Drosophila jambulina belonging to the montium subgroup were tested for pupation site preference in relation to temperature. At 30 °C, larvae preferred to pupate on food whereas at 21 °C pupation occurred on the cotton. Genetic basis of larval pupation behavior was studied by conducting reciprocal crosses for 30 generations on food-selected and on cotton-selected pupae. Results from genetic analysis between food-selected and cotton-selected strains indicated a single gene responsible for the pupation site preference, with F₁ progeny pupated on cotton and F₂ (F₁ × F₁) larvae pupated on both food as well as on cotton. Although we found no change in morphological traits in food vs cotton selected populations, significantly different growth rate (body weight) between the two strains was observed. These results suggest that pupation site preferences can affect life-history traits in D. jambulina.

KEY WORDS:

• Drosophila jambulina
• pupation site preference
• pupation behavior
• laboratory selection
• single gene locus
• life-history traits

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The first author is grateful to the Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi, for the financial support through the DST-INSA/INSPIRE faculty fellow project (IFA-11LSBM-08). Thanks are also due to Professor Sanjeet Singh, Associate Dean Research, Chandigarh University for the help and support to carry out the research.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.