title: Male mate recognition via cuticular hydrocarbons facilitates sexual isolation between sympatric leaf beetle sister species.
abstract: Chemical signals in insects have been documented to play an important role in mate recognition, and divergence in chemical signals can often cause sexual isolation between closely related species or populations within species. We investigated the role of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs), short distance chemical signals, in male mate recognition between the two sympatric elm leaf beetles, Pyrrhalta maculicollis and Pyrrhaltaaenescens. Mating experiments demonstrated that strong sexual isolation between the two species was driven by CHCs divergence. Males preferred to mate with conspecific females with intact conspecific CHCs or conspecific CHCs reapplied after removal. Males also preferred heterospecific females that were treated with conspecific CHCs. Chemical analysis showed that the CHC profiles differ significantly between species. In P. maculicollis dimethyl-branched alkanes between C29 and C35 account for the majority of the saturated alkanes while the CHC profile of P. aenescens mostly consisted of monomethyl-branched alkanes between C22 and C29. Additionally, some compounds, such as 12,18-diMeC32, 12,18-diMeC34, are unique to P. maculicollis.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: xue@ioz.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Huai-Jun
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Ke-Qing
authors.initials: KQ
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Zhu
authors.initials: WZ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Rui-E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: yangxk@ioz.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Xing-Ke
authors.initials: XK
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D052586:Mating Preference, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D060047:Reproductive Isolation; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons; D012724:Sex Attractants
keywords: Assortative mating; Contact sex pheromone; Cuticular hydrocarbons; Leaf beetle; Mate recognition; Sexual isolation