Reproductive Allocation in Tropical Drosophilidae: Further Evidence on the Role of Breeding-Site Choice

Observations on reproductive allocation in 23 species of tropical African Drosophilidae revealed a wide array of reproductive patterns associated with their degree of specialization in the field. The reproductive performances tested experimentally under laboratory conditions can provide valuable insight on how life history characteristics have evolved. The data presented clearly suggest an inverse relationship between reproduction and age at maturity. Regression analyses further demonstrate that growth and longevity are positively correlated with age at maturity. In summary, shorter-lived species concentrate the production of many offspring in early age classes, whereas longer-lived species delay maturity in later age classes and then produce fewer offspring. It is worth stressing that the former are those generalists exploiting the environmental mosaic in a fine-grained manner, whereas the latter are those specialists with coarse-grained behavioral response. Therefore, the capacity to delay maturity and ...