The genetic basis of female mate choice between the sibling species, Drosophila simulans and D. sechellia

Assortative mating is a key factor in both speciation and species integrity. Here we examined the preferences of female Drosophila from two sibling species, Drosophila simulans or D. sechellia, in a two-choice test with males from either species. We first establish baseline levels species- specific selection in the file, ‘Assortative mating in Drosophila simulans and Drosophilia sechellia females’. Next, we used a back-cross strategy to align mate choice with regions of the genome. The file, ‘Genotype-phenotype association for mate choice in a Drosophila simulans-sechellia backcross population’ provides data for the D. sechellia backcross progeny and the file, ‘Genotype-phenotype association for mate choice in progeny of Drosophila simulans backcross’ aligns mate choice with genotype in the D. simulans backcross progeny.