Population differentiation in female sex pheromone and male preferences in a solitary bee |
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Authors: | Nicolas J Vereecken Jim Mant Florian P Schiestl |
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Institution: | 1.Behavioural and Evolutionary Ecology,Free University of Brussels CP 160/12,Brussels,Belgium;2.Plant Ecological Genetics,Institute for Integrative Biology,Zurich,Switzerland |
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Abstract: | Population differentiation in female mating signals and associated male preferences can drive reproductive isolation among
segregated populations. We tested this assumption by investigating intraspecific variation in female sex pheromone and associated
male odour preferences among distant populations in the solitary bee Colletes cunicularius (L.) by using quantitative gas chromatography and by performing field bioassays with synthetic blends of key sex pheromone
compounds. We found significant differences in sex pheromone blends among the bee populations, and the divergence in odour
blends correlated positively with geographic distance, suggesting that genetic divergence among distant populations can affect
sex pheromone chemistry. Our behavioural experiments, however, demonstrate that synthetic copies of allopatric female sex
pheromones were cross-attractive to patrolling males from distant populations, making reproductive isolation by non-recognition
of mating signals among populations unlikely. Our data also show that patrolling male bees from different populations preferred
odour types from allopatric populations at the two sites of bioassays. These male preferences are not expected to select for
changes in the female sex pheromone, but may influence the evolution of floral odour in sexually deceptive orchids of the
genus Ophrys that are pollinated by C. cunicularius males. |
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Keywords: | Colletes cunicularius Population differentiation Odour preferences Ophrys orchids Pollination by sexual deception |
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