Too Much Sexual Attention Harms Attractive Female Flies
BRISBANE, Australia, June 26 (UPI) — There’s no such thing as too much of a good thing, unless you’re a female fly, and the “good thing” is sexual attention.
New researchers suggests female flies can be “too attractive.” In a recent study, scientists found female flies who were overwhelmed by harassment from male suitors were less able to adapt and survive when faced with changing environmental conditions.
Not only did sexual attention diminish the female fruit flies’ (Drosophila serrata) adaptability, it also reduced their sexual productivity.
“Female fruit flies with superior genes that allow them to lay more eggs were so attractive to male suitors they spent most of the time fending off male suitors rather than actually laying eggs,” Steve Chenoweth, a biology professor at the University of Queensland, said in a press release. “The end result was that these supposedly ‘superior’ genes could not be passed on to the next generation.”
To test the effects of male sexual harassment of female flies, researchers allowed fly population to a adapt to a range of lab conditions over the course of 13 generations. In each scenario, scientists controlled the number of males, thereby limiting the potential for sexual harassment.
Results showed that an increased male presence (and thus, an increase in harassment) was directly correlated with a reduction in genes that control egg-laying abilities and sexual attractiveness in females.
“We have known for some time of these harmful interactions between males and females,” Chenoweth said. “However, we hadn’t realised there may be a large number of genes fueling the interactions, or that these types of genes hamper a species’ ability to adapt to new conditions.”
The research was published this week in the journal Current Biology.
