Trade-offs within and between sexual traits in stalk-eyed flies (Diptera: Diopsidae)

dc.contributor.advisorWilkinson, Geralden_US
dc.contributor.authorFry, Catherine Len_US
dc.contributor.departmentBehavior, Ecology, Evolution and Systematicsen_US
dc.contributor.publisherDigital Repository at the University of Marylanden_US
dc.contributor.publisherUniversity of Maryland (College Park, Md.)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2006-09-12T05:39:17Z
dc.date.available2006-09-12T05:39:17Z
dc.date.issued2006-06-05en_US
dc.description.abstractThe allocation of limited resources to competing body parts during development may affect both the absolute and relative sizes of physical traits, creating potentially dramatic consequences for the evolution of morphology. While negative correlations between the sizes of body parts ("trade-offs") arising from the distribution of finite resources have long been anticipated, empirical support is relatively rare. In this study, I use two related species of stalk-eyed flies that differ in morphology to investigate whether eye-span exaggeration results in trade-offs with other body parts. One species, <em>Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni</em>, is sexually dimorphic, with males having exaggerated eye-span while the other, <em>C. quinqueguttata</em>, is sexually monomorphic with both sexes having approximately equivalent and relatively unexaggerated eye-span. I utilize complementary approaches including artificial selection, application of exogenous juvenile hormone, and diet manipulation to alter the absolute and relative length of the eye-stalks in order to reveal correlated changes in other physical traits. The results of these experiments suggest that exaggerated eye-span in male <em>C. dalmanni</em> is accompanied by a decrease in two other features of head morphology, eye-bulb size and eye-stalk width, as well as compromised testis growth and sperm production. No trade-offs were observed in females of either species or male <em>C. quinqueguttata</em>. These results are consistent with hormonally-mediated trade-offs arising from the allocation of limited resources to an exaggerated trait and suggest that those trade-offs may act as costs of developing exaggerated eye-span.en_US
dc.format.extent11954735 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3746
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledBiology, Ecologyen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledBiology, Generalen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledBiology, Entomologyen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledTrade-offsen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolleddevelopmenten_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledjuvenile hormoneen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledallometryen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledDipteraen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledsexual selectionen_US
dc.titleTrade-offs within and between sexual traits in stalk-eyed flies (Diptera: Diopsidae)en_US
dc.typeDissertationen_US

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