Host Plant Related Variation In Insect Mating Signals And Mate Preferences

Speciation in many animals involves adaptation to novel environments and divergence in mating signals and mate preferences, with the latter providing crucial reproductive isolation during the early stages of speciation. One key question, therefore, is how colonizing novel environments influences evolutionary divergence in signals and preferences. Here we ask how variation in the signals and preferences of a plant-feeding insect is influenced by inputs from the biotic environment (host plants) in interaction with the insects’ genotypes. We worked with a species that is common in the Milwaukee area, the two-spotted treehopper, Enchenopa binotata (Hemiptera: Membracidae). We present the results of a preliminary experiment, and discuss the findings in terms of impact on the dynamics of sexual selection and their consequences for speciation