Dispersal and prepupation behavior of Chilean sympatric Drosophila species that breed in the same site in nature

We investigated dispersal patterns of Drosophila larvae searchingfor pupation sites over three substrates to determine the roleof spatial heterogeneity and presence of other species on prepupationbehavior. We used D. melanogaster, D. hydei, and D. pavani whoseparents emerged from apples collected in one orchard. Each speciesshowed different preferences for substrates on which to pupate,particularly in the presence of another Drosophila species.Larval locomotion rate and turning behavior in D. melanogaster,D. hydei, and D. pavani were modified depending this upon thetype of substrate (agar and sand) on which the larvae crawled.These two behaviors are involved in dispersal and aggregationof pupae. Distance between pupae of the same species decreaseswhen larvae of another species pupate on the same substrate.Aggregated distributions over the substrates lead to patcheswith few or no individuals. These could serve as pupation sitesfor other Drosophila species that, in nature, also emerge fromsmall breeding sites.