Data from: Rapid diversification of sexual signals in Hawaiian Nesosydne planthoppers (Hemiptera: Delphacidae): the relative role of neutral and selective forces

AbstractChanges in sexual signals have the potential to promote rapid divergence and reproductive isolation among populations of animals. Thus, identifying processes contributing to variation in signals is key to understanding the drivers of speciation. However, it is difficult to identify the processes initiating changes in signals in empirical systems because (1) the demographic history of populations under study is usually unclear, and (2) there is no unified hypothesis-testing framework for evaluating the simultaneous contribution of multiple processes. A unique system for study in the Hawaiian Islands, the planthopper species Nesosydne chambersi, offers a clear demographic context to disentangle these factors. By measuring variation in male vibratory sexual signals across different genetic populations on the island of Hawaii, we found that that multiple signal traits varied significantly between populations. We developed a mixed modelling framework to simultaneously test competing hypotheses about which processes contribute to changes in signal traits: genetic drift, sensory drive or reproductive character displacement. Our findings suggest that signal divergence proceeds along different axes for different signal traits under the influence of both neutral and selective processes. They are the first, to our knowledge, to document the relative importance of multiple processes on divergence in sexual signals.

摘要
动物性信号的改变有望推动动物种群间快速分化与生殖隔离的形成。因此，明确驱动信号变异的过程，是理解物种形成动因的关键所在。然而，在实证研究体系中识别引发信号改变的过程颇具挑战，原因有二：其一，研究种群的种群动态历史通常尚不明确；其二，尚无统一的假设检验框架，用以评估多种过程的协同贡献。
夏威夷群岛特有的研究类群——飞虱物种钱伯斯新扁飞虱（Nesosydne chambersi），为厘清上述影响因素提供了清晰的种群动态历史背景。本研究通过测定夏威夷岛不同遗传种群的雄性振动性信号变异情况，发现多个信号性状在种群间存在显著差异。我们构建了混合建模框架，用以同时检验关于信号性状改变驱动过程的竞争性假设：遗传漂变、感觉驱动，以及生殖特征置换。
本研究结果表明，在中性过程与选择过程的共同作用下，不同信号性状的信号分化沿不同维度进行。据我们所知，本研究首次量化评估了多种过程对动物性信号分化的相对重要性。