Contact pheromones of 2 sympatric beetles are modified by the host plant and affect mate choice

Huai-Jun Xue, Jia-Ning Wei, Sara Magalhães, Bin Zhang, Ke-Qing Song, Jie Liu, Wen-Zhu Li and Xing-Ke Yang

Behavioral Ecology, 2016, vol. 27, issue 3, 895-902

Abstract: Lay Summary Host-plant shifts have contributed significantly to the diversification of phytophagous insects. Combining behavioral experiments with chemical analysis, we show that males of Altica flea beetles use species-specific cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) to identify conspecific mates. The profile of CHCs and male mating preference in F1 hybrids are modified by host plant. Our results highlight behavioral divergence due to host-dependent contact sex pheromone is a possible scenario for ecological speciation of herbivorous insects.

Keywords: assortative mating; cuticular hydrocarbons; ecological speciation; interspecific hybridization; reproductive isolation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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