Insect mating signal and mate preference phenotypes covary among host plant genotypes

Sexual selection acting on small initial differences in mating signals and mate preferences can enhance signal-preference co-divergence and reproductive isolation during speciation. However, the origin of initial differences in sexual traits remains unclear. We asked whether biotic environments, a source of variation in sexual traits, may provide a general solution to this problem. Specifically, we asked whether genetic variation in biotic environments provided by host plants can result in signal-preference phenotypic covariance in a host-specific, plant-feeding insect. We used a member of the Enchenopa binotata species complex of treehoppers (Hemiptera: Membracidae) to assess patterns of variation in male mating signals and female mate preferences induced by genetic variation in host plants. We employed a novel implementation of a quantitative genetics method, rearing field-collected treehoppers on a sample of naturally-occurring replicated host plant clone lines. We found remarkably h...作用于交配信号与配偶偏好初始微小差异的性选择，可在物种形成过程中强化信号-偏好共分化与生殖隔离。然而，性特征初始差异的起源仍未明确。我们提出疑问：作为性特征变异来源的生物环境，能否为该问题提供普适性解答？具体而言，我们探究由寄主植物构成的生物环境中的遗传变异，能否在寄主专一性植食性昆虫中引发信号-偏好表型协变。本研究选取二带恩斯沫蝉（Enchenopa binotata）角蝉物种复合体（Hemiptera: 角蝉科Membracidae）中的一个类群作为实验材料，以评估寄主植物遗传变异所诱导的雄性交配信号与雌性配偶偏好的变异格局。我们采用了一种经创新优化的数量遗传学方法，将野外采集的角蝉饲养于一组天然存在的重复寄主植物克隆系中。我们观测到显著的……