Premium
Phenotypic plasticity in sexual communication signal of a noctuid moth
Author(s) -
GROOT A. T.,
CLAβEN A.,
STAUDACHER H.,
SCHAL C.,
HECKEL D. G.
Publication year - 2010
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.1420-9101.2010.02124.x
Subject(s) - biology , pheromone , sex pheromone , sexual selection , heliothis virescens , noctuidae , zoology , polyphenism , intraspecific competition , phenotypic plasticity , animal communication , mate choice , experimental evolution , ecology , evolutionary biology , lepidoptera genitalia , mating , genetics , gene
Variability within sex pheromone signalling systems is generally believed to be low because of strong stabilizing selection; yet the noctuid moth Heliothis subflexa (Hs) shows significant intraspecific variation. One possible explanation is that females may alter their sex pheromone blend depending on prevailing olfactory cues in the habitat, which we termed the ‘experience hypothesis’. This could be adaptive if Hs females experiencing the pheromone of another species, Heliothis virescens (Hv), responded to reduce the frequency of heterospecific matings. We exposed Hs females to no pheromone, Hs pheromone or Hv pheromone in the first 3 days of their adult lives. Hs females in the latter treatment produced significantly more of the acetate Z11‐16:OAc, which inhibits the attraction of Hv males. To our knowledge, this is the first study showing adaptive phenotypic plasticity in a moth sex pheromone and suggests that behavioural differentiation may precede genetic divergence in the sexual signals of moths.