Reproductive character displacement of epicuticular compounds and their contribution to mate choice in Drosophila subquinaria and Drosophila recens.

ABSTRACT: Interactions between species can alter selection on sexual displays used in mate choice within species. Here we study the epicuticular pheromones of two Drosophila species that overlap partially in geographic range and are incompletely reproductively isolated. Drosophila subquinaria shows a pattern of reproductive character displacement against Drosophila recens, and partial behavioral isolation between conspecific sympatric versus allopatric populations, whereas D. recens shows no such variation in mate choice. First, using manipulative perfuming experiments, we show that females use pheromones as signals for mate discrimination both between species and among populations of D. subquinaria. Second, we show that patterns of variation in epicuticular compounds, both across populations and be

SUBMITTER: Dyer KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4278427 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature