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Updated: May 5, 2026

Measuring and Altering Mating Drive in Male Drosophila melanogaster
Published on: February 15, 2017
Multiple mating and sperm displacement in a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster
R C Griffiths1, S W McKechnie, J A McKenzie
1Mathematics Department, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Abstract:
Mother-offspring data for alcohol dehydrogenase genotypes of a vineyard cellar population of D. melanogaster are best explained by a model that allows 21% of females in the population to mate twice with an 83% level of sperm displacement. A population model with multiple mating and sperm displacement is examined theoretically. A formula for the effective population size is derived under this model. Multiple mating increases the effective population size relative to single mating.
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