Mapping QTL contributing to variation in posterior lobe morphology between strains of Drosophila melanogaster

Closely-related, and otherwise morphologically similar insect species frequently show striking divergence in the shape and/or size of male genital structures, a phenomenon thought to be driven by sexual selection. Comparative interspecific studies can help elucidate the evolutionary forces acting on genital structures to drive this rapid differentiation. However, genetic dissection of sexual trait divergence between species is frequently hampered by the difficulty generating interspecific recombinants. Intraspecific variation can be leveraged to investigate the genetics of rapidly-evolving sexual traits, and here we carry out a genetic analysis of variation in the posterior lobe within D. melanogaster. The lobe is a male-specific process emerging from the genital arch of D. melanogaster and three closely-related species, is essential for copulation, and shows radical divergence in form across species. There is also abundant variation within species in the shape and size of the lobe, and...