Sexual selection on the genital lobes of male Drosophila simulans

Abstract

Sexual selection is thought to be responsible for the rapid divergent evolution of male genitalia with several studies detecting multivariate sexual selection on genital form. However, in most cases, selection is only estimated during a single episode of selection, which provides an incomplete view of net selection on genital traits. Here, we estimate the strength and form of multivariate selection on the genitalia arch of Drosophila simulans when mating occurs in the absence of a competitor and during sperm competition, in both sperm defence and offense roles (i.e., when mating first and last). We found that the strength of sexual selection on the genital arch was strongest during noncompetitive mating and weakest during sperm offense. However, the direction of selection was similar across selection episodes with no evidence for antagonistic selection. Overall, selection was not particularly strong despite genitals clearly evolving rapidly in this species.