Pupal emergence pattern in cactophilic Drosophila and the effect of host plants.

EDUARDO M. SOTO; JULIÁN PADRÓ; PABLO MILLA CARMONA; DIEGO T. TUERO; VALERIA P CARREIRA; IGNACIO M. SOTO

INSECT SCIENCE

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2018 vol. 25 p. 1108 - 1118

1672-9609

Drosophila buzzatii and D. koepferae are sibling cactophilic species from the Neotropic. D. buzzatii breeds primarily on prickly pears (genus Opuntia) and D. koepferae on columnar cacti of the genera Cereus and Trichocereus, with certain degree of niche overlapping. These species also exhibit quantitative differences in behaviour (e.g. oviposition preferences) and fitness-related traits (e.g. survival, body size, developmental time, starvation resistance) that are regarded as adaptations to exploit resources characterized by diverse spatial-temporal predictabilities and contrasting chemistries in arid environments. We examined the diurnal temporal patterns of adult emergence from puparia in this pair of cactophilic Drosophila species, and evaluated whether this behavior is affected by rearing in different cactus hosts available in nature. We detected important host-dependent genetic variation for this trait differentially affecting the emergence schedule of these species. In general, emergence time was directly correlated with developmental time and negatively correlated withadult wing size, suggesting that, early emergences are at least indirectlycorrelated with increased fitness. We discuss our results in terms of theirputative effects on fitness and the genetic-metabolic pathways that would be presumably affected by host´s nutritional-chemical differences.