Beauty comes with a price, and for fruit flies, the toll is upon their reproductive system, according to a new study. The most attractive females have compromised survival due to attention that they receive from male fruit flies.
Male fruit flies are highly attracted to the largest females and in turn receive the most attention. This brings forth some similarities to the human population – where males see larger human assets as highly attractive and deserving of attention. Like in the human world, these attractive fruit flies steal male attention, and another similarity is that many of them don’t desire it because it can compromise their survival.
In the world of fruit flies, sex is of course for the purpose of reproduction and there can be such thing as too much. The larger and more attractive female fruit flies inundated by male attention can create a toxicity in the female’s reproductive system as a result of the semen. Additionally, the constant attention they receive can prevent them from finding food and other sources of livelihood.
Image Via: Flickr User Max XX with a Creative Commons License
