Co-Occurring Sister Taxa of Mountain Butterflies Exhibit Distinct Cuticular Hydrocarbon Profiles.

ABSTRACT: Invisible to human perception, differentiation in chemical traits such as insects cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) might contribute to speciation. The species-rich mountain butterfly genus Erebia represents a well-established model for studying speciation because closely related taxa form stable secondary contact zones. However, to which degree these taxa would also differ in their chemical composition of the cuticle has remained unexplored. We compared CHCs of males and females from four locally sympatric or parapatric sister taxa pairs with varying levels of gene flow. Rarely hybridizing taxa pairs (E. cassioides-E. tyndarus, E. euryale-E. ligea) exhibited significant CHC differentiation at both interspecific and intersexual levels. Conversely, taxa pairs

SUBMITTER: Kleckova I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12405801 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature