Courtship Behavior of Zaprionus indianus (Gupta) (Diptera: Drosophilidae) from Populations Colonizing South America

Abstract

We describe for the first time the sexual behavior and the courtship song of males of the African fly Zaprionus indianus (Gupta), a recent invader of South America. The male courtship song is formed by monocyclic pulses and the courtship behavior is simple when compared to that of species of Drosophila. Two interpulse interval (IPI) distributions were observed: pre-mounting and mounting. No significant difference was observed between the pre-mounting IPIs of males that descended from three geographical populations from South America. We also observed the songs produced by females and the homosexual behavior exhibited by males. A sequence of bursts is produced by females as a refusal signal against males, while males emit a characteristic song that identifies sex genus, which differs from the courtship song. The short courtship and mating latencies recorded reveal vigorous males and receptive females, respectively.

Biological Studies on the African Fig Fly, Zaprionus Indianus Gupta (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

“…The mating duration in Jordanian populations of the fly was close to that obtained by Müller et al (2012) which ranged between 18 s to 6 min and 56 s, with average of 2 min and 16 s). The obtained premating and preoviposition durations were similar because the mated females laid eggs after mating due to availability of ideal oviposition substrate.…”

Physical mapping of the Period gene on meiotic chromosomes of South American grasshoppers (Acridomorpha, Orthoptera)

“…The probes were prepared from the pTOPZiper01 plasmid containing the flanking sequences of the threonine-glycine region of the Period gene of the drosophilid Zaprionus indianus cloned in the TOPO TA plasmid (Invitrogen, USA) (Müller et al, 2012). Plasmids were transformed into the DH5α strain of Escherichia coli with the calcium chloride method and extracted by alkaline lysis (Ausubel et al, 2002).…”

Mating dynamics of a sperm-limited drosophilid, Zaprionus indianus

“…obs). Courtship in this species is brief, lasting seconds to a few minutes [ 17 ]. In courtship, a male approaches a female, grapples with her, and produces an acoustic signal (song) through wing vibration [ 16 ].…”

“…In courtship, a male approaches a female, grapples with her, and produces an acoustic signal (song) through wing vibration [ 16 ]. Male courtship songs are brief but necessary because a wingless male is not accepted by females [ 17 ]. A female may duet, responding with her own song if receptive, or produce a whining sound while rocking if unreceptive [ 17 ].…”

“…Male courtship songs are brief but necessary because a wingless male is not accepted by females [ 17 ]. A female may duet, responding with her own song if receptive, or produce a whining sound while rocking if unreceptive [ 17 ]. If not rejected, the male grasps the female’s abdomen with his fore- and mid-tarsi and pushes her wings aside with his head to mount.…”