scholarly journals Male sex pheromone release and female mate choice in a butterfly

2007 ◽  
Vol 210 (6) ◽  
pp. 964-970 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Andersson ◽  
A.-K. Borg-Karlson ◽  
N. Vongvanich ◽  
C. Wiklund
Keyword(s):  
Sex Pheromone ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Male Sex Pheromone ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Pheromone Release ◽  
Male Sex

scholarly journals Male sex pheromone components in Heliconius butterflies released by the androconia affect female choice

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3953 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathy Darragh ◽  
Sohini Vanjari ◽  
Florian Mann ◽  
Maria F. Gonzalez-Rojas ◽  
Colin R. Morrison ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Pheromone ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Substantial Contribution ◽  
Genetic Studies ◽  
Male Sex Pheromone ◽  
Male Pheromones ◽  
Chemical Signalling ◽  
Heliconius Melpomene ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Male Sex

Sex-specific pheromones are known to play an important role in butterfly courtship, and may influence both individual reproductive success and reproductive isolation between species. Extensive ecological, behavioural and genetic studies of Heliconius butterflies have made a substantial contribution to our understanding of speciation. Male pheromones, although long suspected to play an important role, have received relatively little attention in this genus. Here, we combine morphological, chemical and behavioural analyses of male pheromones in the Neotropical butterfly Heliconius melpomene. First, we identify putative androconia that are specialized brush-like scales that lie within the shiny grey region of the male hindwing. We then describe putative male sex pheromone compounds, which are largely confined to the androconial region of the hindwing of mature males, but are absent in immature males and females. Finally, behavioural choice experiments reveal that females of H. melpomene, H. erato and H. timareta strongly discriminate against conspecific males which have their androconial region experimentally blocked. As well as demonstrating the importance of chemical signalling for female mate choice in Heliconius butterflies, the results describe structures involved in release of the pheromone and a list of potential male sex pheromone compounds.

scholarly journals Selection on male sex pheromone composition contributes to butterfly reproductive isolation

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1804) ◽  
pp. 20142734 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. M. B. Bacquet ◽  
O. Brattström ◽  
H.-L. Wang ◽  
C. E. Allen ◽  
C. Löfstedt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Pheromone ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Species Recognition ◽  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Character Displacement ◽  
Reproductive Character Displacement ◽  
Male Sex Pheromone ◽  
Pheromone Composition ◽  
Male Sex

Selection can facilitate diversification by inducing character displacement in mate choice traits that reduce the probability of maladaptive mating between lineages. Although reproductive character displacement (RCD) has been demonstrated in two-taxa case studies, the frequency of this process in nature is still debated. Moreover, studies have focused primarily on visual and acoustic traits, despite the fact that chemical communication is probably the most common means of species recognition. Here, we showed in a large, mostly sympatric, butterfly genus, a strong pattern of recurrent RCD for predicted male sex pheromone composition, but not for visual mate choice traits. Our results suggest that RCD is not anecdotal, and that selection for divergence in male sex pheromone composition contributed to reproductive isolation within the Bicyclus genus. We propose that selection may target olfactory mate choice traits as a more common sensory modality to ensure reproductive isolation among diverging lineages than previously envisaged.

scholarly journals Male sex pheromone components in Heliconius butterflies released by the androconia affect female choice

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathy Darragh ◽  
Sohini Vanjari ◽  
Florian Mann ◽  
Maria F Gonzalez-R ◽  
Colin R Morrison ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Pheromone ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Substantial Contribution ◽  
Genetic Studies ◽  
Male Sex Pheromone ◽  
Male Pheromones ◽  
Chemical Signalling ◽  
Heliconius Melpomene ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Male Sex

AbstractSex specific pheromones are known to play an important role in butterfly courtship, and may influence both individual reproductive success and reproductive isolation between species. Extensive ecological, behavioural and genetic studies of Heliconius butterflies have made a substantial contribution to our understanding of speciation. Male pheromones, although long suspected to play an important role, have received relatively little attention in this genus. Here, we combine morphological, chemical, and behavioural analyses of male pheromones in the Neotropical butterfly Heliconius melpomene. First, we identify putative androconia that are specialized brush-like scales that lie within the shiny grey region of the male hindwing. We then describe putative male sex pheromone compounds, which are largely confined to the androconial region of the hindwing of mature males, but are absent in immature males and females. Finally, behavioural choice experiments reveal that females of H. melpomene, H. erato and H. timareta strongly discriminate against conspecific males which have their androconial region experimentally blocked. As well as demonstrating the importance of chemical signalling for female mate choice in Heliconius butterflies, the results describe structures involved in release of the pheromone and a list of potential male sex pheromone compounds.

Female Choice in Middendorff's Grasshopper-Warbler (Locustella Ochotensis)

The Auk ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 103 (4) ◽  
pp. 694-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisashi Nagata
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Food Abundance ◽  
Territory Size ◽  
Territory Quality ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Grasshopper Warbler

Abstract Morphological and territorial factors that influence female mate choice were examined in the monogamous Middendorff's Grasshopper-Warbler (Locustella ochotensis) on an islet near Fukuoka, Japan. I assumed that pairing date corresponded with female mate choice. Pairing date was correlated with both territory size and food abundance but was not correlated with selected morphological characteristics of males. Territorial quality was assumed to be correlated with territory size because preferable food resources and nest sites were distributed randomly. I conclude that female mate choice was influenced by territory quality rather than by the morphological characteristics of males.

scholarly journals The fruitless gene affects female receptivity and species isolation

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1923) ◽  
pp. 20192765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tabashir Chowdhury ◽  
Ryan M. Calhoun ◽  
Katrina Bruch ◽  
Amanda J. Moehring
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Female Receptivity ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Multiple Transcripts ◽  
Female Behaviour ◽  
Substrate Vibrations

Female mate rejection acts as a major selective force within species, and can serve as a reproductive barrier between species. In spite of its critical role in fitness and reproduction, surprisingly little is known about the genetic or neural basis of variation in female mate choice. Here, we identify fruitless as a gene affecting female receptivity within Drosophila melanogaster , as well as female Drosophila simulans rejection of male D. melanogaster . Of the multiple transcripts this gene produces, by far the most widely studied is the sex-specifically spliced transcript involved in the sex determination pathway. However, we find that female rejection behaviour is affected by a non-sex-specifically spliced fruitless transcript. This is the first implication of fruitless in female behaviour, and the first behavioural role identified for a fruitless non-sex-specifically spliced transcript. We found that this locus does not influence preferences via a single sensory modality, examining courtship song, antennal pheromone perception, or perception of substrate vibrations, and we conclude that fruitless influences mate choice via the integration of multiple signals or through another sensory modality.

scholarly journals Female butterflies prefer males bearing bright iridescent ornamentation

2007 ◽  
Vol 274 (1613) ◽  
pp. 1043-1047 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darrell J Kemp
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Sex Recognition ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Wing Colour ◽  
Enclosure Experiments ◽  
Colour Patterns

Butterflies are among nature's most colourful animals, and provide a living showcase for how extremely bright, chromatic and iridescent coloration can be generated by complex optical mechanisms. The gross characteristics of male butterfly colour patterns are understood to function for species and/or sex recognition, but it is not known whether female mate choice promotes visual exaggeration of this coloration. Here I show that females of the sexually dichromatic species Hypolimnas bolina prefer conspecific males that possess bright iridescent blue/ultraviolet dorsal ornamentation. In separate field and enclosure experiments, using both dramatic and graded wing colour manipulations, I demonstrate that a moderate qualitative reduction in signal brightness and chromaticity has the same consequences as removing the signal entirely. These findings validate a long-held hypothesis, and argue for the importance of intra- versus interspecific selection as the driving force behind the exaggeration of bright, iridescent butterfly colour patterns.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document