Does mate copying occur in Drosophila hydei ?

Abstract The use of social information to find a suitable mating partner is widespread in the animal kingdom. One form of such social learning is mate copying, in which individuals choose potential mates by copying the mate choice of conspecifics. While many studies have documented mate copying in Drosophila melanogaster and its potential for cultural evolution under laboratory conditions, little is known whether this behavior is universal among other drosophiliids. Here, we tested the cosmopolitan species D. hydei, which is often cohabitating with D. melanogaster in the wild. We used the same protocol that was developed for D. melanogaster and has also been successfully applied to D. simulans, in which an inexperienced female first observes a conspecific female’s mate choice between a male artificially colored green and one artificially colored pink. The observer female is then allowed to choose between two new males, one green and one pink. Unlike D. melanogaster and D. simulans, D. hydei does not choose the same artificial phenotype as the demonstrators after observing a single mating. Thus, there is no clear evidence of mate copying or the use of social information in either male or female D. hydei. Further experiments with different species are needed to gain a comprehensive understanding of the prevalence of mate copying within drosophiliids.