Effect of Male’s Fitness on Male Mate Choice in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Males show male mate choice when the reproductive investment is high and if there is a fitness difference between females. The choice is greater when the fitness difference is higher. If there is a variance in male fitness, there might be a choice difference of the males toward the females. We test this hypothesis using Drosophila melanogaster by taking males differing in age and nutritional status. We found out that the males generally prefer the higher quality females and the choice is significant for higher quality males in case of age; but in case of nutritional status, the males show significant preference for the higher quality females when the fitness difference is high and no significant preference when the fitness difference is low.