How much starvation, desiccation and oxygen depletion can Drosophila melanogaster tolerate before its upper thermal limits are affected?

•Resource limitation might interact with and compromise thermal tolerance.•Deprivation of fresh air for up to 32 h prior to assays did not affect heat tolerance.•Desiccation and starvation prior to assay decreased heat tolerance predictably.•Heat tolerance was little affected by desiccation and starvation during the assay.•CTmax estimates are not strongly biased or confounded by experimental conditions.