Female remating in Drosophila ananassae:: Evidence for the effect of density on female remating frequency

Drosophila ananassae, a cosmopolitan and domestic species, is largely circumtropical in distribution and belongs to the ananassae species complex of the ananassae subgroup of the melanogaster species group. In the present study, experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of density on female remating frequency by employing different wild-type and mutant strains of D. ananassae. Two experimental designs, i.e., 2-h daily observation and continuous confinement, were used. The results show that there is significant dependence of remating frequency on density in all strains tested tinder both experimental designs except in a wild-type strain (Bhutan), which shows no dependence of remating frequency on density under 2-h daily observation design. This finding provides evidence that density may increase the frequency of female remating in D. ananassae.