Data from: Macroevolution of perfume signalling in orchid bees

Theory predicts that both stabilising selection and diversifying selection
jointly contribute to the evolution of sexual signalling traits by (1)
maintaining the integrity of communication signals within species and (2)
promoting the diversification of traits among lineages. However, for many
important signalling traits, little is known about whether these dynamics
translate into predictable macroevolutionary signatures. Here, we test for
macroevolutionary patterns consistent with sexual signalling theory in the
perfume signals of neotropical orchid bees, a group well studied for their
chemical sexual communication. Our results revealed both high
species-specificity and elevated rates of evolution in perfume signals
compared to nonsignalling traits. Perfume complexity was correlated with
the number of congeners in a species’ range, suggesting that perfume
evolution may be tied to the remarkably high number of orchid bee species
coexisting together in some neotropical communities. Finally, sister-pair
comparisons were consistent with both rapid divergence at speciation and
character displacement upon secondary contact. Together, our results
provide new insight into the macroevolution of sexual signalling in
insects.