Open AccessDrosophilafemales have an acoustic preference for symmetric males
Author(s) -
Roshan Kumar Vijendravarma,
Sunitha Narasimha,
Elsa Steinfath,
Jan Clemens,
Pierre Léopold
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2116136119
Subject(s) - mate choice , courtship , sexual selection , preference , wing , biology , courtship display , fluctuating asymmetry , evolutionary biology , zoology , drosophila (subgenus) , psychology , genetics , mating , physics , mathematics , gene , statistics , thermodynamics
Significance Theoretically, symmetry in bilateral animals is subject to sexual selection, since it can serve as a proxy for genetic quality of competing mates during mate choice. Here, we report female preference for symmetric males inDrosophila , using a mate-choice paradigm where males with environmentally or genetically induced wing asymmetry were competed. Analysis of courtship songs revealed that males with asymmetric wings produced songs with asymmetric features that served as acoustic cues, facilitating this female preference. Females experimentally evolved in the absence of mate choice lost this preference for symmetry, suggesting that it is maintained by sexual selection.