A two-sex polygenic model for the evolution of premating isolation. I. Deterministic theory for natural populations.

It is proposed that mating behavior is normally determined by independent genetic systems in the male and female. A specific model is put forward in which mating behavior is determined by additive gene contributions in both sexes, and the strength of mating attraction is maximized when mating "scores" in the two sexes are equalized. This type of model, which may be described as a "facilitation" model, is related to models proposed by a number of authors. It is pointed out that a second class of models exists, "avoidance" models, and that these, although less tractable analytically, could be more realistic.-An organism is assumed to be divided into two strains, and selection is introduced through lethality or sterility of the hybrid (postmating isolation). The selective tendency for divergence of mating behavior in one sex is then shown to be proportional to the amount of divergence that already exists in the opposite sex, multiplied by a quantity that can be described as the heritability of mating attraction. The situation in which no initial divergence exists in either sex constitutes an equilibrium that is unstable, but one that requires substantial deviations before any selective progress can be made. Thus, the evolution of premating isolation to reinforce postmating isolation may be an inefficient process. The process would occur much more efficiently if some initial chance divergence in mating behavior occurred during the period in which postmating isolation evolved.