Replicated evolutionary divergence in the cuticular hydrocarbon profile of male crickets associated with the loss of song in the Hawaiian archipelago

Female choice based on male secondary sexual traits is well documented, although the extent to which this selection can drive an evolutionary divergence in male traits among populations is less clear. Male field crickets Teleogryllus oceanicus attract females using a calling song and once contacted switch to courtship song to persuade them to mate. These crickets also secrete onto their cuticle a cocktail of long-chained fatty acids or cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs). Females choose among potential mates based on the structure of male acoustic signals and on the composition of male CHC profiles. Here, we utilize two naturally occurring mutations that have arisen independently on two Hawaiian islands and render the male silent to ask whether the evolutionary loss of acoustic signalling can drive an evolutionary divergence in the alternative signalling modality, male CHC profiles. QST-FST comparisons revealed strong patterns of CHC divergence among three populations of crickets on the islan...