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Reinforcement of mate preference among hybridizing Heliconius butterflies
Author(s) -
KRONFORST M. R.,
YOUNG L. G.,
GILBERT L. E.
Publication year - 2007
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 - 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2006.01198.x
Subject(s) - heliconius , biology , mate choice , assortative mating , character displacement , preference , evolutionary biology , reproductive isolation , sexual selection , selection (genetic algorithm) , natural selection , mating preferences , mating , zoology , population , sympatric speciation , mimicry , sympatry , artificial intelligence , demography , computer science , sociology , microeconomics , economics
Recent models of mate preference evolution suggest that direct selection on alleles at preference loci and correlated evolution of preference with locally adapted mating cues are more likely to drive the evolution of assortative mate preference than reinforcement. Mate preference evolution in mimetic Heliconius butterflies has been attributed to all three forms of selection, but here we show that reinforcement has been critical. By examining geographical variation in assortative mating and male mate preference among seven populations of three hybridizing Heliconius species from Costa Rica, we found pronounced character displacement of preference such that sexual isolation was enhanced in areas of interspecific contact. Of the different explanations for the evolution of assortative mate preference, only reinforcement is dependent on interspecific contact in this system. Thus, the observed pattern of reproductive character displacement of mate preference is best explained as a product of indirect selection generated by natural selection against nonmimetic hybrids.