title: Rapid laboratory evolution of adult wing area in Drosophila melanogaster in response to humidity.
abstract: We examined the evolutionary response of wing area (a trait highly correlated with other measures of body size) to relative humidity (RH), temperature, and their interaction in Drosophila melanogaster, using replicated lines that had been allowed to evolve at low or high humidity at 18 degrees C or at 25 degrees C. We found that after 20 weeks of selection (5-10 generations), low RH lines had significantly greater wing areas than high RH lines in both sexes. This evolutionary response may have resulted from selection of larger flies with a smaller surface area for water loss relative to their weight, or as a correlated response to selection on some other unidentified trait. There were no evolutionary effects of temperature on wing area or cell density. This may have been due to the short duration of the selection experiment, and/or counteracting selection pressures on body size at warm temperature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University College London, Darwin Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: W Jason
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Kennington
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Killeen
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Partridge
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001837:Body Weights and Measures; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006813:Humidity; D009512:New Guinea; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000033:anatomy & histology*