Collaborative Research -- The Role of Mating Signals in Sympatric Speciation: An Integration of Comparative and Experimental Approaches

标题：合作研究--交配信号在共域物种形成中的作用：比较和实验方法的整合雷金纳德·B·科克罗夫特博士和密苏里-哥伦比亚大学拉斐尔·L·罗德里格斯博士。兰迪·亨特印第安纳大学东南分校以植物为食的昆虫构成了地球生物多样性的一大部分。在不同种群(被认为是通常的物种形成模式)之间没有杂交的地理障碍的情况下，可能会形成新的植物食性昆虫物种。在这种情况下，如果行为和生态因素阻止一个种群的个体进行杂交，就可能形成新的物种。这里提出的研究将在一组以植物为食的昆虫中检验这种多样化模式(称为同域物种形成)，即树蝉的Enchenopa binotata物种复合体。二斑潜蝇的生活史与寄主植物的生长周期密切相关。雌性在夏末在茎内产卵，春季的发育是由植物内部的液体运动触发的。当昆虫以不同的生长周期定植一种新的寄主植物时，新旧寄主上的种群在卵孵化和交配的时间上会不同。这些差异减少了杂交，但这种部分隔离可能不足以使种群发生分化。最近发现的通过植物组织传递的底物振动交配信号表明了一个可能完全隔离并导致分歧(共面物种形成)的因素。雌雄交配发生在雌雄之间的二重唱之后。男性信号包括一个大约1秒长的音调，然后是几个短脉冲。雌性通过将自己的反应信号与他的反应信号交替来表示对特定雄性的接受。雄性用雌性的反应来定位它们，二重唱通常以交配结束。因此，雌性的反应提供了一个很好的配偶识别的分析。这个项目将描述交配信号，以及雌性对这些信号的偏好，在E.binotata复合体。它还将研究在新寄主植物上定居对交配通讯系统的影响。这种方法将有助于我们理解配偶通信系统中多样性的原因，以及通信与生物多样性之间的关系。

TITLE: Collaborative Research -- The role of mating signals in sympatric speciation: an integration of comparative and experimental approaches Dr. Reginald B. Cocroft and Dr. Rafael L. RodriguezUniversity of Missouri-ColumbiaDr. Randy HuntUniversity of Indiana-SoutheastPlant-feeding insects constitute a large fraction of the earth's biological diversity. The formation of new species of plant-feeding insects may occur in the absence of geographic barriers to interbreeding between diverging populations (thought to be the usual mode of species formation). Under these conditions, new species can form if behavioral and ecological factors prevent individuals of one population from interbreeding. The research proposed here will examine this mode of diversification (called sympatric speciation) in a group of plant-feeding insects, the Enchenopa binotata species complex of treehoppers. The life cycle of E. binotata treehoppers is tightly linked with the growth cycle of their host plant. Females lay their eggs in late summer inside the stem and development in the spring is triggered by the movement of fluid inside the plant. When insects colonize a novel species of host plant with a different growth cycle, the populations on old and new hosts will differ in the timing of egg hatch and mating. These differences reduce interbreeding, but this partial isolation may not be sufficient for differentiation of the populations to occur. The recent discovery of substrate-borne vibrational mating signals that are transmitted through the plant tissue in E. binotata treehoppers suggests a factor that may complete isolation and lead to divergence (sympatric speciation). Mating in E. binotata occurs after a duet between a male and a female. Male signals consist of a tone about 1 sec long, followed by several short pulses. Females indicate receptivity to a particular male by alternating their own response signals with his. Males use female responses to locate them, and duets typically end in mating. Female responses thus provide an excellent assay of mate recognition.This project will characterize the mating signals, and female preferences for those signals, in the E. binotata complex. It will also examine the ways in which colonizing a new host plant can influence the mate communication system. This approach will help us understand the causes of diversity in mate communication systems, as well as the relationships between communication and biological diversity.