The effects of temperature on the time to maturation of Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Insects typically grow faster, but are smaller in size when raised at warmer temperatures, while at cooler temperatures, their growth rate is slower but produces a larger body size. The aim of this study is to examine how long it takes for Drosophila melanogaster to mature in a range of temperatures. This study was conducted by raising D. melanogaster from the larval stage to adulthood at different temperatures. Four replicates each containing ten larvae were placed within each of the three temperature treatments: 12°, 20° and 29° C. The number of adults and the day they emerged were recorded. Although it was not the main focus of the experiment, the lengths of the emerged adults were also recorded due to the correlation between temperature and the size of the D. melanogaster. The average proportions of D. melanogaster that matured into adults were 0 for the 12° C treatment, 1 for the 20° C treatment and 0.8+/-0.216 in the 29° C treatment after thirteen days. The 20° C treatment’s average body size of 2.607+/-0.00765 mm was found to be significantly different from the 2.547+/-0.0299 mm average body length in the 29° C treatment. With these results, we determined that there is a negative correlation between the temperature and the length of time to maturation, and a positive correlation between the growth time and body size.