Local adaptation to developmental density does not lead to higher mating success in Drosophila melanogaster

In this study, we investigate the effect of local adaptation to developmental density on male mating success in laboratory populations of Drosophila melanogaster. Mating success is known to be influenced by body condition which can in turn be influenced by local adaptation. We test the hypothesis that males adapted to a given environment have higher mating success when assayed in that environment. We used males selected for adaptation to high larval density and their controls which are reared at low larval density. We grew assay males in low and high densities while the focal females (raised at low larval density) used for the experiment belonged to the common ancestor of selected and control populations. We considered selected males grown at high density and control males grown at low density as “adapted”. Similarly we considered selected males grown at low density and control males grown at high density as “non-adapted”. Selected male belonging to a given treatment (larval density) wa...