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1 September 2011 Speciation in Gomphocerine Grasshoppers: Molecular Phylogeny Versus Bioacoustics and Courtship Behavior
Varvara Vedenina, Nikolay Mugue
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Abstract

To understand the driving forces of speciation in grasshoppers of the subfamily Gomphocerinae, we compared a molecular phylogenetic tree with the distribution of the song pattern complexity and courtship behavior. In 50 grasshopper species of Gomphocerinae, a barcoding region of mitochondrial gene COI was sequenced and analyzed. A plesiomorphic pattern of calling song was shown to be predominant in the species of the most basal clusters, including the tribes Chrysochraontini, Dociostaurini and Arcypterini. In the tribes Stenobothrini and Gomphocerini, plesiomorphic pattern of the calling song was found in less than half of the species studied; others demonstrated increasing song complexity. The species of the basal cluster of the phylogenetic tree did not show complex courtship songs. Courtship songs that are different and more complex than the calling songs were only found in about half of species belonging to the tribes Stenobothrini and Gomphocerini. Most species with complex courtship (species of Stenobothrus genus, of Chorthippus albomarginatus group) were shown to be recently diverged species. Comparison of visual displays accompanying complex courtship song, revealed similarities between the species from different groups. According to the molecular phylogeny, complex courtship behavior in Gomphocerinae evolved independently and convergently. Since the courtship song can be used by a female to judge mate quality, sexual selection is suggested to be the main driving force of rapid speciation in these young species.

Varvara Vedenina and Nikolay Mugue "Speciation in Gomphocerine Grasshoppers: Molecular Phylogeny Versus Bioacoustics and Courtship Behavior," Journal of Orthoptera Research 20(1), 109-125, (1 September 2011). https://doi.org/10.1665/034.020.0111
Published: 1 September 2011
KEYWORDS
complex song
Gomphocerinae
mtDNA
sexual selection
stridulatory leg movements
visual display
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