Hoikkala A, Aspi J, Suvanto L
Department of Biology, University of Oulu, Finland.
Proc Biol Sci. 1998 Mar 22;265(1395):503-8. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1998.0323.
Most theoretical models on evolution of male secondary sexual characters and female preferences for these characters suggest that the male characters evolve in response to female preferences that may themselves evolve in response to direct or indirect benefits of choice. In Drosophila montana (a species of the D. virilis group), females use male song in their mate choice, preferring males that produce songs with short sound pulses and a high carrier frequency. We demonstrate here that the females get indirect benefits from their choice: in our data the frequency of the male song correlated with the survival rate of the male's progeny from egg to adulthood (indirect benefit for the female), but not with the fecundity of his mating partner (no direct benefit for the female). Male wing centroid asymmetry did not correlate with male wing song characters, nor with female egg production nor the fitness of her progeny, suggesting that fluctuating asymmetry in male wings does not play a major role in sexual signalling. The fact that the male song gives the female information on the male's condition/genetic quality in D. montana suggests that in this species the evolution of female preferences for male song characters could have evolved through condition-dependent viability selection presented in some 'good genes' models.
大多数关于雄性第二性征进化以及雌性对这些特征偏好的理论模型表明，雄性特征的进化是对雌性偏好的响应，而雌性偏好本身可能会因选择的直接或间接益处而进化。在蒙大拿果蝇（果蝇属粗壮果蝇组的一个物种）中，雌性在配偶选择时会利用雄性歌声，更喜欢发出短声脉冲和高载波频率歌声的雄性。我们在此证明，雌性从其选择中获得间接益处：在我们的数据中，雄性歌声的频率与雄性后代从卵到成年的存活率相关（对雌性的间接益处），但与它交配对象的繁殖力无关（对雌性无直接益处）。雄性翅质心不对称与雄性翅歌声特征无关，也与雌性产卵量及其后代的适合度无关，这表明雄性翅膀的波动不对称在性信号传递中不发挥主要作用。在蒙大拿果蝇中，雄性歌声能为雌性提供有关雄性状况/基因质量的信息，这一事实表明，在该物种中，雌性对雄性歌声特征的偏好进化可能是通过一些“好基因”模型中呈现的依赖条件的生存力选择实现的。
