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Asymmetry, testis and sperm size in Yellow Dung Flies
Article first published online: 23 APR 2003
DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2435.2003.00723.x
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How to Cite
Hosken, D. J., Garner, T. W. J. and Blanckenhorn, W. U. (2003), Asymmetry, testis and sperm size in Yellow Dung Flies. Functional Ecology, 17: 231–236. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2435.2003.00723.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 23 APR 2003
- Article first published online: 23 APR 2003
- Received 21 June 2002; revised 4 October 2002; accepted 14 October 2002
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Keywords:
- Developmental stability;
- FA;
- Scathophaga
Summary
- 1Fluctuating asymmetry (FA), small random deviations from perfect bilateral symmetry, is a widely used measure of developmental stability, and has been linked to fitness measures including male primary reproductive traits such as sperm quality. However, there have been relatively few investigations of potential associations between these male traits and FA, and hence the current balance of evidence is equivocal.
- 2There is also evidence that levels of FA vary across populations with, for example, organisms inhabiting marginal populations often displaying increased FA. Moreover, environmental variation may select for different levels of developmental buffering across populations that are only revealed in ‘common garden’ experiments.
- 3Investigations of potential associations between male leg FA and testis and sperm size in Yellow Dung Flies are reported here. In addition, levels of FA in a mainland and two island populations were compared when flies were reared under common conditions.
- 4No associations were found between any measure of FA and sperm size (or variation) or testis size. Additionally, no evidence was found that FA varied across the three populations when flies were reared under identical controlled conditions.