Quantitative genetics of the dung fly Sepsis cynipsea: Cheverud's conjecture revisited

Longevity and Developmental Stability in the Dung Fly Sepsis cynipsea, as Affected by the Ectoparasitic Mite, Pediculoides mesembrinae

Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) is a widely employed measure of developmental stability. It has been found to increase with many stressors including parasite infection. Associations between parasites and FA may exist for several reasons in addition to parasites being the direct cause of increased FA. Developmentally stable individuals may have superior immune systems, and be less susceptible to para...

Quantitative genetics of gene expression during fruit fly development

Over the last ten years, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been used to identify genetic variants associated with many diseases as well as quantitative phenotypes, by exploiting naturally occurring genetic variation in large cohorts of individuals. More recently, the GWAS approach has also been applied to highthroughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data in order to find loci associated wi...

The Mertens Conjecture Revisited

Sexual selection accounts for the geographic reversal of sexual size dimorphism in the dung fly, sepsis punctum (Diptera: Sepsidae).

Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) varies widely across and within species. The differential equilibrium model of SSD explains dimorphism as the evolutionary outcome of consistent differences in natural and sexual selection between the sexes. Here, we comprehensively examine a unique cross-continental reversal in SSD in the dung fly, Sepsis punctum. Using common garden laboratory experiments, we esta...

The fluid dynamics of yellow dung fly sperm flow

The mechanisms regulating sperm transfer, storage, and use in insects are far from clear. Even in one of the most well-resolved systems for studying post-copulatory sexual selection, the yellow dung fly (Scathophaga stercoraria), the process of sperm transfer is not well understood. Our aim is to model the fluid dynamics of sperm flow in the reproductive tracts of female yellow dung flies to de...