Meeting Abstract

104.6  Sunday, Jan. 6  The younger games: flies compete for oviposition sites that benefit their young BORCHERT, JD*; ANGILLETTA, MJ; Arizona State University; Arizona State University jdborche@asu.edu

We used game theory to predict how fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) should compete for oviposition sites. Although flies prefer to lay their eggs within a particular range of temperatures, the potential for competition among offspring should cause females to accept warmer or cooler sites when preferred sites become crowded. To look at this problem, I observed where flies chose to lay eggs under various densities of competing females. In each trial, 1, 5, 10, or 20 flies were placed within a thermal gradient of potential oviposition sites, (a grape agar media ranging from 21°C to 37°C). Additionally, I also ran a trial where I added a single fly at a time to the thermal gradient to see if effects on behavior resulted from the presence of other females or the presence of eggs on the media. After 9 hours, I counted the eggs laid in each portion of the gradient and analyzed how the distribution of eggs was affected by the density of females. By drawing on game theory to make quantitative predictions, this research builds on previous empirical studies of competition between thermoregulating animals.