Temporal analysis of tone pulses within the courtship songs of two sibling Drosophila species, their interspecific hybrid, and behavioral mutants of D. melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

Abstract

Temporal analyses were applied to the tone pulses within the courtship songs of Drosophila melanogaster, D. simulans, their interspecific hybrid, and behavioral mutants of D. melanogaster. Linear regression was performed on various parameters of the song pulses (cycles per pulse, absolute peak amplitude, intrapulse frequency, number of peaks in fast Fourier transform, width of the primary frequency peak, and interpulse interval), as a function of their positions within pulse trains. Significant differences in the slope values of these two species and of the mutant genotypes allowed for discriminative quantification of temporal changes within trains. These results are discussed in relation to previous kinds of temporal analyses of Drosophila courtship songs and also with regard to the mechanisms of song production. © 1992 Plenum Publishing Corporation.