Divergence in female damselfly sensory structures is consistent with a species recognition function but shows no evidence of reproductive character displacement.

ABSTRACT: Males and females transmit and receive signals prior to mating that convey information such as sex, species identity, or individual condition. In some animals, tactile signals relayed during physical contact between males and females before and during mating appear to be important for mate choice or reproductive isolation. This is common among odonates, when a male grasps a female's thorax with his terminal appendages prior to copulation, and the female subsequently controls whether copulation occurs by bending her abdomen to complete intromission. It has been hypothesized that mechanosensory sensilla on the female thoracic plates mediate mating decisions, but is has been difficult to test this idea. Here, we use North American damselflies in the genus Enallagma (Odonata: Coenagrion

SUBMITTER: Barnard AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6303706 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature