Social plasticity in reproduction in female Drosophila melanogaster!

There is significant evidence that male fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, have the capacity to adjust their courtship behaviours depending on the social environment they encounter; however, the extent of plasticity in behavioural responses by females have received much less scrutiny.

In this study, we set out to determine whether the presence and/or the types of conspecifics an individual female encounters influences her subsequent reproductive behaviour and patterns of egg production. In our assay, we housed medium-sized adult virgin females in experimental social treatments; either in isolation, or with other conspecific females (that were either of large- or small- body size) to observe how the presence and/or type of social interactions altered later reproductive decisions and outcomes.