Experimental evolution of color preference for oviposition in Drosophila melanogaster

Mellissa Marcus (), Terence C. Burnham (), David W. Stephens () and Aimee S. Dunlap ()
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Mellissa Marcus: University of Missouri, St. Louis
Terence C. Burnham: Chapman University
David W. Stephens: College of Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Aimee S. Dunlap: University of Missouri, St. Louis

Journal of Bioeconomics, 2018, vol. 20, issue 1, No 8, 125-140

Abstract: Abstract Preferences are the foundation of economics. Preferences are taken by economists as fixed by some implicitly biological process. In recent decades, behavioral economics has documented the divergence between the nature of human preferences and the assumptions of standard economics. In this study, we use the tool of experimental evolution to study the evolution of color preferences in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). In particular, we select for a preference for laying eggs on the color aqua. We find that the flies evolve to lay more than twice as many eggs on aqua. However, this evolution occurs entirely because the flies lay more eggs overall. The flies in this study, do not evolve to lay a higher percentage of eggs on the selected color, aqua.

Keywords: Adaptation; Preference theory; Experimental evolution; Evolution; Behavioral economics; selection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10818-017-9261-z

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