CORRELATED RESPONSES IN LIFE-HISTORY TRAITS TO ARTIFICIAL SELECTION FOR BODY WEIGHT IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER.

Drosophila melanogaster that had been successfully selected on rich and poor larval medium for increased and decreased fresh weight at eclosion were tested on an intermediate medium for correlated responses in longevity, fertility, and hatchability. Larger flies laid more eggs early in life and lived shorter lives than smaller flies, which not only lived longer but also laid more eggs later in life. This supports the notion of a mortality cost of reproduction in Drosophila. The total number of eggs laid per lifetime did not differ between the two groups. The percentage of offspring hatched started at normal levels (about 50% of eggs laid), then declined rapidly in large flies. In small flies, hatchability started at a lower level early in life (40-65%), but declined less rapidly, and later in life was higher than the hatchability of eggs laid by larger flies. © 1992 The Society for the Study of Evolution.