Abstract
The epistatic interaction between the second and third chromosomes of D. melanogaster was quantified in male mating activity under no competition among males. The mean mating activity of the two-chromosome homozygote was 0.517±0.064. The expected value under a multiplicative model was 0.509±0.054. Coefficient of interaction, I, was calculated to be 0.008±0.129. k statistic, a new measure of epistasis devised by Seager and Ayala (1982), was 0.029±0.027, which is not significantly different from zero. It is concluded that there is no interchromosomal interaction between two major autosomes in male mating activity.
