title: Mate choice in fruit flies is rational and adaptive.
abstract: According to rational choice theory, beneficial preferences should lead individuals to sort available options into linear, transitive hierarchies, although the extent to which non-human animals behave rationally is unclear. Here we demonstrate that mate choice in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster results in the linear sorting of a set of diverse isogenic female lines, unambiguously demonstrating the hallmark of rational behaviour, transitivity. These rational choices are associated with direct benefits, enabling males to maximize offspring production. Furthermore, we demonstrate that female behaviours and cues act redundantly in mate detection and assessment, as rational mate choice largely persists when visual or chemical sensory modalities are impaired, but not when both are impaired. Transitivity in mate choice demonstrates that the quality of potential mates varies significantly among genotypes, and that males and females behave in such a way as to facilitate adaptive mate choice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Box 357705, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.|Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, 4200-6270 University Boulevard, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4.
authors.forename: Devin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Arbuthnott
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, and Geriatrics Center, University of Michigan, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Tatyana Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Fedina
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, and Geriatrics Center, University of Michigan, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Scott D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Pletcher
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Box 357705, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.|Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel E L
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Promislow
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D052586:Mating Preference, Animal; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal