Cactophilic Drosophila flies are excellent models to study adaptation to a relatively narrow spectrum of potential host plants and host-driven evolutionary diversification. Previous studies suggested a complex genetic architecture of wing and male genital morphology in phylogenetically basal species of the D. buzzatii cluster. In this work, we investigate the effect of experimental hybridization and host plant shifts on male genital and wing morphology in D. gouveai Tidon-Sklorz and Sene and D. antonietae Tidon-Sklorz and Sene, a pair of more recently derived species. We explicitly tested the hypotheses that wing and male genital morphology in interspecific hybrids depend on the host plant in which flies were grown. Our study shows that cactus hosts exert a strong effect on genital and wing morphology and that hybrids can be clearly differentiated on the basis of wing and genital morphology from both parental species. However, the extent of morphological differentiation between hybrids and pure species as well as plasticity patterns varied across organs, suggesting a complex genetic architecture for the studied traits.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 June 2010
Male Genital and Wing Morphology in the Cactophilic Sibling SpeciesDrosophila gouveai and Drosophila antonietae and Their HybridsReared in Different Host Plants
I. M. Soto,
E. M. Soto,
C. Corio,
V. P. Carreira,
M. Manfrin,
E. Hasson
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
It is not available for individual sale.
This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
It is not available for individual sale.
cactophilic Drosophila
host shifts
hybrids
male genitalia
wing morphology