Vibrational Communication Signals in Mantophasmatodea: Species Recognition, Sexual Selection, and Population Differentiation

使用基板传播的振动信号的位置，物种身份，或性别，被认为是一个非常古老的通信模式，是非常广泛的动物王国。这种通信方式的漫长的进化历史，它发生的物种的显着多样性，以及它在生物相互作用中的作用，提供了无与伦比的机会来询问和回答有关物种识别，信号进化，性选择，以及通信信号在种群分化和物种形成中的作用的各种一般性问题。基底振动通信的行为和进化生物学的重要性与迄今为止只对极少数动物类群进行的少量研究形成鲜明对比。仅在13年前，昆虫Mantophasmatodea（heelwalkers）被发现，从那时起，研究主要集中在分类学和系统发育重建。然而，脚跟步行者的生物学，包括他们产生的振动信号的作用，仍然没有得到广泛的探索。男性和女性的脚跟行走者都用腹部敲击基底（通常是植物的一部分），以产生基底的振动。这些振动呼叫可能服务于物种识别和配偶定位，因为它们被证明是物种和性别特异性的。因此，Mantophasmatodea代表了一个完美的模式系统，以调查在捕食性昆虫的振动信号的进化，第一次和他们的作用，在人口分化。在这里提出的项目中，我们将调查在西开普省地区，生物多样性热点的几个种群中发生的物种的振动信号。将进行行为实验，以评估用于物种识别的振动通信呼叫中的决定性线索。我们将探讨如果字符位移发生在两个或两个以上的物种发生在同域的网站。女性（和男性）的偏好将使用人工振动信号的回放实验，以揭示性选择对振动信号进化的影响。实地研究将允许优化的自然实验室设置。最后，振动的变化调用，体细胞和生殖器形态特征的变化以及遗传多样性，使用微卫星标记将在同一物种的人口进行调查，以揭示在西开普省Mantophasmatodea的人口分化的现状。这将提供深入了解振动通信可能发挥的作用Mantophasmatodea种群分化和物种形成。

The use of substrate-borne vibrations to signal location, species identity, or sex, is considered a very ancient mode of communication and is extremely widespread within the animal kingdom. The long evolutionary history of this communication modality, the remarkable diversity of species in which it occurs, and its role in biotic interactions provide unparalleled opportunities to ask and answer various general questions concerning species recognition, signal evolution, sexual selection, and the role of communication signals in population differentiation and speciation. The importance of substrate vibrational communication for behavioural and evolutionary biology stands in high contrast to the little research conducted so far on only very few animal taxa. Only 13 years ago, the insect order Mantophasmatodea (heelwalkers) was discovered and since then, research has focussed mainly on taxonomy and phylogenetic reconstruction. However, the biology of heelwalkers including the role of the vibrational signals they produce has remained widely unexplored. Heelwalkers of both sexes tap their abdomen against the substrate (usually parts of plants) to create substrate vibrations. These vibrational calls probably serve for species identification and mate localization since they were shown to be species and sex specific. Mantophasmatodea therefore represent a perfect model system to investigate the evolution of percussive vibrational signals in a predatory insect for the first time and their role in population divergence. In the project proposed here, we will investigate the vibrational signals of species which occur in several populations at different localities in the Western Cape Region, a biodiversity hotspot. Behavioural experiments will be conducted to assess the decisive cues within vibrational communication calls which are used for species recognition. We will explore if character displacement takes place at sites where two or more species occur in sympatry. Female (and male) preferences will be investigated using playback experiments with artificial vibrational signals to reveal the influence of sexual selection on vibrational signal evolution. Field studies will allow for optimized seminatural laboratory setups. Finally, variability of vibrational calls, variability of somatic and genitalic morphological characters as well as genetic diversity using microsatellite markers will be investigated in populations of the same species to reveal the present state of population differentiation of Mantophasmatodea in the Western Cape. This will provide insight into the role vibrational communication might play for population differentiation and speciation in Mantophasmatodea.