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Sexual selection drives the evolution of male wing interference patterns.

ABSTRACT: The seemingly transparent wings of many insects have recently been found to display unexpected structural coloration. These structural colours (wing interference patterns: WIPs) may be involved in species recognition and mate choice, yet little is known about the evolutionary processes that shape them. Furthermore, to date investigations of WIPs have not fully considered how they are actually perceived by the viewers' colour vision. Here, we use multispectral digital imaging and a model of Drosophila vision to compare WIPs of male and female Drosophila simulans from replicate populations forced to evolve with or without sexual selection for 68 generations. We show that WIPs modelled in Drosophila vision evolve in response to sexual selection and provide evidence that WIPs correlate with male sexual attractiveness. These findings add a new element to the otherwise well-described Drosophila courtship display and confirm that wing colours evolve through sexual selection.

SUBMITTER: Hawkes MF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6545089 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Sexual selection drives the evolution of male wing interference patterns.

Hawkes M F MF Duffy E E Joag R R Skeats A A Radwan J J Wedell N N Sharma M D MD Hosken D J DJ Troscianko J J

Proceedings. Biological sciences 20190529 1903

The seemingly transparent wings of many insects have recently been found to display unexpected structural coloration. These structural colours (wing interference patterns: WIPs) may be involved in species recognition and mate choice, yet little is known about the evolutionary processes that shape them. Furthermore, to date investigations of WIPs have not fully considered how they are actually perceived by the viewers' colour vision. Here, we use multispectral digital imaging and a model of Droso ...[more]

PMID: 31138076

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Project description:Competition between same-sex organisms, or intra-sexual selection, can occur before and after mating, and include processes such as sperm competition and cryptic female choice. One of the consequences of intra-sexual selection is that male reproductive traits tend to evolve and diverge at high rates. In benthic octopuses, females often mate with more than one male in a single reproductive event, opening the venue for intra-sexual selection at multiple levels. For instance, males transfer spermatophores through hectocotylus, and can remove the spermatophores left by other males. Considering the limited evidence on post-copula competition in benthic octopuses, and the potential to affect the evolution of reproductive traits within octopodids, we put this hypothesis to a test employing a phylogenetic comparative approach. We combined data on hectocotylized arm length (HAL), ligula length (LL), spermatophore length (SL) with a Bayesian molecular phylogeny of 87 species, to analyze how reproductive traits have diverged across lineages and covary with body size (mantle length; ML). First, additionally to ML, we estimated the phylogenetic signal (λ) and mode of evolution (κ) in each reproductive trait. Second, we performed phylogenetic regressions to quantify the association among reproductive traits and their co-variation with ML. This analysis allowed us to estimate the phenotypic change along a branch into the phylogeny, and whether selection may have played a role in the evolution and diversification of specific clades. Estimations of λ were always high (>0.75), indicating concordance between the traits and the topology of the phylogenetic tree. Low values of κ (<1.0) suggested that evolution depends on branch lengths. All reproductive traits exhibiting a positive relation with ML (β > 0.5 in all cases). Overall, evolutionary rate models applied to the SL-ML regression suggested that octopuses of the family Megaleledonidae have evolved larger spermatophores than expected for their size. The regression HAL-ML indicated that HAL was more variable in Megaleledonidae than in the remaining clades, suggesting that the high divergence across species within this group might partially reflect intra-sexual selection. These results support the hypothesis that, at least in some lineages, sexual selection may account for the divergence in reproductive traits of male octopuses.

Project description:BackgroundSexual selection is thought to promote evolutionary changes and diversification. However, the impact of sexual selection in relation to other selective forces is difficult to evaluate. Male digger wasps of the tribe Philanthini (Hymenoptera, Philanthinae) scent mark territories to attract receptive females. Consequently, the organs for production and storage of the marking secretion, the mandibular gland (MG) and the postpharyngeal gland (PPG), are subject to sexual selection. In female Philanthini, these glands are most likely solely subject to natural selection and show very little morphological diversity. According to the hypothesis that sexual selection drives interspecific diversity, we predicted that the MG and PPG show higher interspecific variation in males than in females. Using histological methods, 3D-reconstructions, and multivariate statistical analysis of morphological characters, we conducted a comparative analysis of the MG and the PPG in males of 30 species of Philanthini and three species of the Cercerini and Aphilanthopsini, two related tribes within the Philanthinae.ResultsWe found substantial interspecific diversity in gland morphology with regard to gland incidence, size, shape and the type of associated secretory cells. Overall there was a phylogenetic trend: Ensuing from the large MGs and small PPGs of male Cercerini and Aphilanthopsini, the size and complexity of the MG was reduced in male Philanthini, while their PPG became considerably enlarged, substantially more complex, and associated with an apparently novel type of secretory cells. In some clades of the Philanthini the MG was even lost and entirely replaced by the PPG. However, several species showed reversals of and exceptions from this trend. Head gland morphology was significantly more diverse among male than among female Philanthinae.ConclusionOur results show considerable variation in male head glands including the loss of an entire gland system and the evolution of a novel kind of secretory cells, confirming the prediction that interspecific diversity in head gland morphology is higher in male than in female Philanthini. We discuss possible causes for the remarkable evolutionary changes in males and we conclude that this high diversity has been caused by sexual selection.

Dataset Information

Sexual selection drives the evolution of male wing interference patterns.

Publications

Sexual selection drives the evolution of male wing interference patterns.

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