Department of Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America.
Integrative Life Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2019 Jan 4;14(1):e0210249. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210249. eCollection 2019.
Acoustic signals play an important role in premating isolation based on sexual selection within many taxa. Many male parasitic wasps produce characteristic courtship songs used by females in mate selection. In Cotesia (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae), courtship songs are generated by wing fanning with repetitive pulses in stereotypical patterns. Our objectives were to sample the diversity of courtship songs within Cotesia and to identify e underlying patterns of differentiation. We compared songs among 12 of ca. 80 Cotesia species in North America, including ten species that have not been recorded previously. For Cotesia congregata, we compared songs of wasps originating from six different host-foodplant sources, two of which are considered incipient species. Songs of emergent males from wild caterpillar hosts in five different families were recorded, and pattern, frequency, and duration of song elements analyzed. Principal component analysis converted the seven elements characterized into four uncorrelated components used in a hierarchical cluster analysis and grouped species by similarity of song structure. Species songs varied significantly in duration of repeating pulse and buzz elements and/or in fundamental frequency. Cluster analysis resolved similar species groups in agreement with the most recent molecular phylogeny for Cotesia spp., indicating the potential for using courtship songs as a predictor of genetic relatedness. Courtship song analysis may aid in identifying closely related cryptic species that overlap spatially, and provide insight into the evolution of this highly diverse and agriculturally important taxon.
声学信号在许多分类群的性选择基础上的交配前隔离中起着重要作用。许多雄性寄生蜂会产生特征性的求偶歌曲，供雌性在选择配偶时使用。在小蜂科（膜翅目：Braconidae：小蜂科）中，求偶歌曲是通过翅膀扇动产生的，具有重复的脉冲和典型的模式。我们的目标是在小蜂科内采样求偶歌曲的多样性，并确定其分化的潜在模式。我们比较了北美约 80 种小蜂中的 12 种的歌曲，其中包括 10 种以前没有记录过的种。对于 Cotesia congregata，我们比较了来自六个不同寄主-食物来源的黄蜂的歌曲，其中两个被认为是初生种。记录了来自五个不同科的野生毛毛虫寄主的新兴雄性的歌曲，并分析了歌曲元素的模式、频率和持续时间。主成分分析将七个特征元素转化为四个不相关的成分，用于层次聚类分析，并根据歌曲结构的相似性对物种进行分组。物种的歌曲在重复脉冲和嗡嗡声元素的持续时间和/或基频方面存在显著差异。聚类分析根据最近的 Cotesia spp.分子系统发育，解决了相似的物种群，表明有可能将求偶歌曲用作遗传相关性的预测因子。求偶歌曲分析可能有助于识别空间上重叠的亲缘关系密切的隐种，并深入了解这个高度多样化和农业上重要的分类群的进化。
