With bloated bellies and hairy legs, female flies try to look bigger to get food from courting mates. But male flies, in turn, have sharpened their eyesight to call their bluff. A new study suggests that this is an ongoing evolution where both sexes try to outsmart each other.
With bloated bellies and hairy legs, female flies try to look bigger to get food from courting mates. But male flies, in turn, have sharpened their eyesight to call their bluff. A new study by researchers from the Universities of Gothenburg and Stockholm suggests that this is an ongoing evolution where both sexes try to outsmart each other.
There is an intricate interplay that takes place when the dance flies mate. The flies only fly for 1-2 weeks in their life cycle and that is when they have to reproduce by laying eggs that become fly larvae. To increase the chance that their genes will be passed on, male flies look for females that appear to have the most eggs. When mating, the male fly brings a gift, usually a dead insect, which he gives to the female.
"This sexual play may force an evolution of the species. For generations, male flies with the largest facets have been favoured in mating and their genes are passed on. We see this as an evolutionary system where the development of different traits in male and female flies has been alternating," says Luc Bussière.
R Axel W Wiberg, Rosalind L Murray, Elizabeth Herridge, Varpu Pärssinen, Darryl T Gwynne, Luc F Bussière.Researchers have found and confirmed a gene that allows female fruit flies to get on the same frequency as courting males. Mosquitoes have the same gene and a similar courtship ritual, meaning that ...
Insects (Including Butterflies) Animals New Species Evolutionary Biology Nature Extinction Fish
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