For the study, the University of Exeter research team, based on the University of Exeter’s Cornwall Campus, focused on the fruitfly Drosophila simulans and found that attractiveness is hereditary in them.

In the study, the team paired up males and females at random and found the length of time it took for them to mate ranged from just two minutes to two hours.

Female fruit flies need to make themselves accessible to males for mating to take place, so males cannot force copulation. Therefore, the speed at which mating occurs can be taken as an indication of the attractiveness of the male to his female partner.

After males had mated with around three females each, their sons who were full and half brothers were paired with single females. Again, the time for copulation to occur was recorded.

Such a procedure allowed the scientists to look at the genetic component of attractiveness.

The analysis found that attractiveness is hereditary, passed on from father to son.

Dr David Hosken of the University of Exeter said that attractiveness probably couldn’t be defined by individual characteristics, so there is no single physical attribute that female fruitflies are looking for in a mate.

“Attractiveness probably can’t be defined by individual characteristics, so there is no single physical attribute that female fruitflies are looking for in a mate. However, there is clearly a benefit to females in having sexy sons that are more likely to attract a mate and produce offspring, ” Hosken said.

Dr Hosken contemplated that his findings could be applied to humans

“It’s possible that attractiveness is hereditable across the animal kingdom. It could even be the case in humans that the sexiest dads also have the most desirable sons, which would probably be bad news for my boy, ” he said.

The study indicates that one benefit females may enjoy by mating with attractive males is that they will produce ‘sexy’ sons, which are more likely to be successful in mating.

The study is published in Current Biology. (ANI)