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Natural history and behavior of Chymomyza mycopelates and C. exophthalma (Diptera: Drosophilidae), and allometry of structures used as signals, weapons, and spore collectors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

William G. Eberhard
William G. Eberhard*
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, Ciudad Universitaria, Costa Rica
*
1 E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

Males of Chymomyza mycopelates Grimaldi and Chymomyza exophthalma Grimaldi battled at sites where females fed and mated (but did not oviposit). Both sexes in the two species waved their brightly marked front legs during aggressive interactions, and males used these legs to strike and grasp opponents forcefully. During intense battles, male C. mycopelates also butted or pushed with their heads, whereas male C. exophthalma used their more strikingly wide heads to threaten with stereotyped displays, during which they also held their front legs folded against the sides of their eyes. Courtship behavior by male C. mycopelates involved tactile and perhaps visual displays with the tips of their front legs. Both species also fed by sweeping their front legs over the surface of fruiting fungi and by removing the spores from their legs with their mouthparts. Although male head width in C. exophthalma showed positive allometry, portions of the front legs that were used as signals and as weapons did not, and thus were not in accord with theoretical predictions that weapons and display devices would have steeper allometries.

Résumé

Les mâles de Chymomyza mycopelates Grimaldi et Chymomyza exophthalma Grimaldi se battent aux sites où les femelles se nourrissent et s'accouplent (mais où elles ne pondent pas). Les mâles et les femelles des deux espèces brandissent leurs pattes antérieures aux colorations brillantes au cours des interactions agressives et les mâles utilisent leurs pattes pour attaquer et saisir leurs rivaux. Au cours de batailles serrées, les mâles de C. mycopelates donnent des coups de tête ou poussent avec leur tête, alors que les mâles de C. exophthala utilisent leur tête, beaucoup plus large, et adoptent des attitudes menaçantes stéréotypées en tenant aussi leurs pattes repliées de chaque côté des yeux. Le comportement de cour du mâle de C. mycopelates compte des gestes tactiles, et peut-être aussi visuels, du bout des pattes antérieures. Les insectes des deux sexes utilisent également leurs pattes antérieures pour se nourrir en balayant la surface des fructifications de champignons dont ils prélèvent les spores avec leurs pièces buccales. Bien que la largeur de la tête du mâle de C. exophthalma reflète une allométrie positive, ce n'est pas le cas des pattes antérieures utilisées comme signaux ou comme armes, en contradiction avec les prévisions théoriques selon lesquelles les armes et les organes de parade devraient avoir une allométrie plus marquée.

[Traduit par la Rédaction]

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 134 , Issue 5 , October 2002 , pp. 667 - 687
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 2002

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