| Recently, the genetic basis and developmental mechanisms underlying the process of melanization have become progressively elucidated, allowing us to study the evolutionary processes that govern the huge variability of pigmentation observed in nature. However, environmental factors contributing to such variability have received little attention, even though they might have profound ecological consequences. Here we describe a method for analyzing the wing melanization patterns of drosophilids in both qualitative and quantitative ways. We test this method on wings of Drosophila buzzatii Patterson & Wheeler individuals, reared in control and alkaloid-enriched mediums. The alkaloids were extracted from the secondary host of these flies, Echinopsis... |
