Courtship behavior of Heliconius erato phyllis (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) towards virgin and mated females: conflict between attraction and repulsion signals?

Klein, André Luis; Araújo, Aldo Mellender de‏

doi:10.1007/s10164-010-0209-1

Cited by 50 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(23 reference statements)

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“…Heliconius butterflies can detect con‐ and heterospecific wing compound bouquets, and a major component, octadecanal, is physiologically and behaviorally active in H. melpomene and its genetic basis appears relatively simple, consistent with other pheromone shifts found in insects (Symonds and Elgar ; Smadja and Butlin ). Along with their striking wing color patterns, male Heliconius use chemistry to influence female mate choice, combining courtship behaviors, and chemistry in a dance to elicit female mating responses (Klein and de Araújo ; Mérot et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A major locus controls a biologically active pheromone component inHeliconius melpomene

et al. 2020

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Understanding the production, response, and genetics of signals used in mate choice can inform our understanding of the evolution of both intraspecific mate choice and reproductive isolation. Sex pheromones are important for courtship and mate choice in many insects, but we know relatively little of their role in butterflies. The butterfly Heliconius melpomene uses a complex blend of wing androconial compounds during courtship. Electroantennography in H. melpomene and its close relative Heliconius cydno showed that responses to androconial extracts were not species specific. Females of both species responded equally strongly to extracts of both species, suggesting conservation of peripheral nervous system elements across the two species. Individual blend components provoked little to no response, with the exception of octadecanal, a major component of the H. melpomene blend. Supplementing octadecanal on the wings of octadecanal‐rich H. melpomene males led to an increase in the time until mating, demonstrating the bioactivity of octadecanal in Heliconius. Using quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping, we identified a single locus on chromosome 20 responsible for 41% of the parental species’ difference in octadecanal production. This QTL does not overlap with any of the major wing color or mate choice loci, nor does it overlap with known regions of elevated or reduced FST. A set of 16 candidate fatty acid biosynthesis genes lies underneath the QTL. Pheromones in Heliconius carry information relevant for mate choice and are under simple genetic control, suggesting they could be important during speciation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A major locus controls a biologically active pheromone component inHeliconius melpomene

et al. 2020

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“…To test for taxon‐specific differences in male preference alone, we counted stereotyped courtship behaviors (Klein and de Araújo ) exhibited by males toward females during the assortative mating trials involving 15 males (five of each taxon) and a single virgin female. For 15 min every hour between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., we recorded the numbers of approaches, hovers, and alightings of males toward the female.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographic contrasts between pre‐ and postzygotic barriers are consistent with reinforcement inHeliconiusbutterflies

et al. 2019

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Identifying the traits causing reproductive isolation and the order in which they evolve is fundamental to understanding speciation. Here, we quantify prezygotic and intrinsic postzygotic isolation among allopatric, parapatric, and sympatric populations of the butterflies Heliconius elevatus and Heliconius pardalinus. Sympatric populations from the Amazon (H. elevatus and H. p. butleri) exhibit strong prezygotic isolation and rarely mate in captivity; however, hybrids are fertile. Allopatric populations from the Amazon (H. p. butleri) and Andes (H. p. sergestus) mate freely when brought together in captivity, but the female F1 hybrids are sterile. Parapatric populations (H. elevatus and H. p. sergestus) exhibit both assortative mating and sterility of female F1s. Assortative mating in sympatric populations is consistent with reinforcement in the face of gene flow, where the driving force, selection against hybrids, is due to disruption of mimicry and other ecological traits rather than hybrid sterility. In contrast, the lack of assortative mating and hybrid sterility observed in allopatric populations suggests that geographic isolation enables the evolution of intrinsic postzygotic reproductive isolation. Our results show how the types of reproductive barriers that evolve between species may depend on geography.

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“…She may also flutter her wings and evert her abdominal scent glands; this may be a rejection behaviour, especially in females who have previously mated. More detailed accounts of Heliconius courtship are given by Crane ( ), Klein and De Araújo (), and Jiggins ().…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female mate choice is a reproductive isolating barrier in Heliconius butterflies

Southcott

Kronforst

2018

Ethology

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In sexually reproducing organisms, speciation involves the evolution of reproductive isolating mechanisms that decrease gene flow. Premating reproductive isolation, often the result of mate choice, is a major obstacle to gene flow between species because it acts earlier in the life cycle than other isolating barriers. While female choice is often considered the default mode in animal species, research in the butterfly genus Heliconius, a frequent subject of speciation studies, has focused on male mate choice. We studied mate choice by H. cydno females by pairing them with either conspecific males or males of the closely related species H. pachinus. Significantly more intraspecific trials than interspecific trials resulted in mating. Because male courtship rates did not differ between the species when we excluded males that never courted, we attribute this difference to female choice. Females also performed more acceptance behaviours towards conspecific males. Premating isolation between these two species thus entails both male and female mate choice, and female choice may be an important factor in the origin of Heliconius species.

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Courtship behavior of Heliconius erato phyllis (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) towards virgin and mated females: conflict between attraction and repulsion signals?

Cited by 50 publications

References 30 publications

A major locus controls a biologically active pheromone component inHeliconius melpomene

A major locus controls a biologically active pheromone component inHeliconius melpomene

Geographic contrasts between pre‐ and postzygotic barriers are consistent with reinforcement inHeliconiusbutterflies

Female mate choice is a reproductive isolating barrier in Heliconius butterflies

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