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Assortative mating across a hybrid zone in Chorthippus parallelus (Orthoptera: Acrididae)
Author(s) -
Ritchie Michael G.,
Butlin Roger K.,
Hewitt Godfrey M.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1420-9101.1989.2050339.x
Subject(s) - biology , hybrid zone , grasshopper , assortative mating , acrididae , orthoptera , mating , subspecies , ecology , hybrid , evolutionary biology , genetic algorithm , cline (biology) , zoology , population , genetics , botany , demography , gene flow , sociology , gene , genetic variation
Two subspecies of the grasshopper Chorthippus parallelus meet and form a hybrid zone in the Pyrenees. Both strong hybrid dysfunction and a behavioural difference occur, which would seem to make the zone a suitable candidate for speciation by reinforcement. One of the classic ways of looking for this is to test for increased levels of assortative mating between populations from close to the region of contact. Here we show that, with virgin insects, such assortment decreases as one approaches the centre of the zone in C. parallelus . The pattern is different upon remating, with non‐virgins showing a pattern more like that predicted by reinforcement. Overall there is little evidence for reinforcement. We argue that other tests of the model may be more appropriate for stable hybrid zones.