Differential posteclosion housing experiences and reproduction in Drosophila.

Differential housing following eclosion was found to affect the mating behaviour of both sexes of Drosophila melanogaster. Flies housed in isolation showed higher mating frequencies and shorter latencies than did group-housed flies. Given a choice of an isolated or group-housed male, females tended to mate with males with similar housing experiences as themselves. Given a choice of an isolated or group-housed female, males strongly preferred the former. The possibility is advanced that these effects are mediated by olfactory stimuli.