Host-related life history traits in interspecific hybrids of cactophilic Drosophila

SOTO, E., I. SOTO, V. CARREIRA, JJ. FANARA & E. HASSON

ENTOMOLOGIA EXPERIMENTALIS ET APPLICATA

Blackwell

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2008 vol. 126 p. 18 - 27

0013-8703

In the genusDrosophila(Diptera: Drosophilidae), interspecific hybridization is a rare phenomenon.However, recent evidence suggests a certain degree of introgression between the cactophilic siblingsDrosophila buzzatiiPatterson & Wheeler andDrosophila koepferaeFontdevila & Wasserman. In thisarticle, we analyzed larval viability and developmental time of hybrids between males ofD. buzzatiiand females ofD. koepferae, raised in media prepared with fermenting tissues of natural host plantsthat these species utilize in nature as breeding sites. In all cases, developmental time and larval viabilityin hybrids was not significantly different from parental lines and, depending on the cross, hybridsdeveloped faster than both parental species or than the slowest species. When data of wing length wereincluded in a discriminant function analysis, we observed that both species can be clearly differentiated,while hybrids fell in two categories, one intermediate between parental species and the other consistingof extreme phenotypes. Thus, our results point out that hybrid fitness, as measured by developmentaltime and viability, is not lower than in the parental species.