Michael G Ritchie

..At least two valid subspecies can be defined...

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..Two studies report the presence of a social influence on pheromonal communication in fruit flies, demonstrating that the production of pheromone blends and mating behaviour are profoundly influenced by social context...

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..Overall genome size is strongly correlated with the proportion of duplicated chemoreceptor loci, but genome size, specialization and endemism may be interrelated in their influence on repertoire size...

..However, mtDNA divergence in Ephippiger is not evolving in a clock-like manner, because a likelihood ratio test rejects clock assumptions for the COII sequences...

..Most recent speciation appears allopatric. River piracy, particularly involving the Rio Ameca basin, has played a significant role in the diversification of the Goodeinae...

..These findings highlight the role correlational sexual selection can play in optimizing nonsexual male morphology and scaling relationships. This study questions the role of the nuptial gift in dance flies as a resource for females...

..simulans allele, the fly was similar to D. simulans in phenotype, with a low level of 7,11-HD. We discuss the location of these regions with regard to candidate genes for CH production, including those for desaturases...

..Male fruit flies sing to females with quiet, close-range wing vibrations. A new study has found that the flies' antennal ears show active tuning to the species-specific frequencies of songs...

..These may be involved in both signal perception and interpretation and some may anticipate molecular interactions that occur between the sexes after mating...

..A newly described species of empidid or 'dance fly' shows a bizarre polymorphism in their forelegs, which presumably serve as a mating lure. This trait may have evolved by frequency-dependent deceptive male signalling...

..It seems likely that both sexual selection and ecological adaptation have influenced the evolution of this gene family in Drosophila...

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..We find that the QTL have bidirectional effects, which indicates that the genetic architecture is compatible with divergence due to genetic drift, although other possibilities are discussed...

..The papers make clear that highly significant advances to our understanding of animal and plant speciation are currently being made across the range of this topic...

..Recently the genome sequences of eleven additional species of Drosophila have become available allowing us to examine variation in the structure of the Gr39a locus across a wide phylogenetic range of fly species...

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..Intra-lacustrine threespine stickleback morphs in all three lakes show significant genetic divergence probably indicating restricted gene flow...

..However, the mechanism involved in mate choice does not seem to be as straightforward as in other similar systems of sympatric stickleback morphs and may involve variation in nest type...

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..We also show correlational selection on female pinnate scales and fecundity. Correlational selection, equivalent investment patterns or increased nutrition from nuptial gifts may all maintain honesty in female ornamentation...

..Such a pattern of inheritance could contribute to the process of speciation via the evolution of new MRSs...

..tequila than in A. splendens. The decline in Z. tequila probably occurred before captive populations were established. We discuss implications for the conservation of critically endangered populations...

..This divergence shows parallels and differences with the well-studied limnetic-benthic stickleback morphs, both in phenotypic divergence and at the genomic level...

..Thus there is evidence for a few large effect genes contributing to the genetic variance among lines. Interestingly, almost all of the candidate song genes previously described for D. melanogaster do not coincide with our QTLs...

..Surprisingly, females from three lines from Colorado seem to have preferences disfavoring the extreme male trait found in this population. We discuss sources of selection on male song and female preference...

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..These may prove to underlie differences in the ecology and behaviour of these diverse species...

..Understanding the genetics of incipient speciation in D. mojavensis clearly depends on cactus-specific expression of traits associated with courtship behavior and sexual isolation...