A field cage test of the effects of the endosymbiont Wolbachia on Drosophila melanogaster

Wolbachia endosymbionts are known to affect the fitness of their hosts, but most of this information is from laboratory studies. In Drosophila melanogaster , Wolbachia frequencies vary clinally in frequency in Australia and may confound climatic adaptation. Here we use field cages in a reciprocal exchange design to test for Wolbachia effects in D. melanogaster in winter at temperate and tropical sites. Infected flies of both populations had a lower fecundity in tropical north Queensland, whilst in temperate southern Victoria Wolbachia effects depended on the nuclear population background. Here infected flies from Victoria were more fecund. Wolbachia also influenced larval/pupal viability in the tropics but this was dependent on population background. In comparisons of the populations, there was no evidence for local adaptation for total fecundity, viability or survival over winter. However, in Victoria, a local population had a higher late‐life fecundity than a tropical population from Queensland that had higher early‐life fecundity. At a tropical site, local Queensland flies had a higher early fecundity than Victorian flies. In contrast to many laboratory studies, mortality rates in the field cages increased only slightly over time. Both the Wolbachia effects and population differences have not been previously detected in laboratory studies with D. melanogaster and highlight the utility of Drosophila field studies in fitness experiments.