A Comparison of the Reproductive Strategies of Domestic Species of Drosophila

Abstract

The reproductive strategies of 7 domestic species of Drosophila [D. melanogaster, D. simulans, D. subobscura, D. immigrans, D. hydei, D. busckii and D. funebris] in a wholesale fruit and vegetable market were compared. Reproductive effort was measured as the ratio of reproductive to total biomass. Some of the shortcomings of this sort of measure were revealed. Species which bred on similar breeding sites tended to have similar reproductive strategies. Large bodied species tended to lay large clutches of small eggs, had slow larval development, and good adult survival. Small bodied species had the opposite characters. The reproductive characters were inconsistent with an explanation based on r- and K-selection theory, but might have evolved as adaptations to the frequency of finding breeding sites.