Resource choice in orchard populations of Drosophila |
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Authors: | MICHAEL TURELLI JERRY A COYNE TIMOTHY PROUT |
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Institution: | Department of Genetics, University of California, Davis, California 95616, U.S.A. |
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Abstract: | Three capture-recapture experiments were performed on natural populations of Drosophila from orchards in California. Two of the experiments investigated choice between known breeding substrates: oranges v. grapefruits and figs v. peaches. The third involved choice between citrus baits in a citrus orchard and both banana and citrus baits in an adjacent almond orchard. Drosophila pseudoobscura showed no fidelity to the bait or area of initial capture. However, a statistically significant but low level of resource fidelity was displayed by D. melanogaster/D. simulans. An index of differential choice is used to compare our results to those of previous studies. Possible biological bases of choice behaviour are discussed. |
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Keywords: | Drosophila bait selection habitat selection choice index |
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