Analysis of courtship sequences of the hybrids between Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans.

Several transitions between sequential male courtship elements were analyzed for Drosophila melanogaster, its close relative D. simulans, and two types of hybrid males. Hybrid males from special reciprocal crosses did not differ. While D. melanogaster and D. simulans males differed markedly for the majority of transitions studied, hybrid males showed no consistent pattern with the parent species, being indistinguishable from D. simulans males, indistinguishable from D. melanogaster, or intermediate between them, depending on the trait observed. This suggests independent genetic control of these transitions during male courtship.