Causes and consequences of male-male courtship in fruit flies
The mechanisms maintaining homosexual behaviour in animals are not well understood. In fruit flies, where male-male courtship is prevalent, it has been suggested that young males gain from being courted by mature males, perhaps through learning. I conducted two series of experiments to critically examine why mature males court immature males and what immature males […]
Learning magnifies individual variation in heterospecific mating propensity
Recent research indicating learning in the context of sexual behaviour in fruit flies suggests that learning could increase levels of assortative mating between partially diverged populations. We present a graphic model examining the role of learning and a series of experiments evaluating assumptions and predictions of the model. We found that male Drosophila persimilis that […]
Dynamics of learning in the context of courtship in Drosophila persimilis and D. pseudoobscura
Recent data indicating that male fruit flies adaptively reduce courtship of heterospecific females, which typically reject them, suggest that learning could contribute to reduced levels of matings between individuals from diverging populations with partial premating isolation. To further examine the robustness of learning in the context of courtship in fruit flies, I wished to broaden […]
Costs to females and benefits to males from forced copulations in fruit flies
Forced copulation, which is perhaps the most extreme form of sexual conflict, is ubiquitous among many species including humans. To better understand the evolution and maintenance of forced copulations, it is imperative to assess their costs and benefits. We followed up on recent studies indicating frequent forced copulations in two wild populations of fruit flies, […]