Environmental correlates of sexual signaling in the Heteroptera : a prospective study
Abstract
Sexual selection is a major evolutionary process, shaping organisms in terms of success in competition for access to mates and their gametes. The study of sexual selection has provided a rich empirical and theoretical literature addressing the ecological and evolutionary causes and consequences of competition of gametes. However, there remains a bias towards individual, species-specific studies, whilst broader, cross-species comparisons looking for wider-ranging patterns in sexual selection remain uncommon. For instance, we are still some ways from understanding why particular kinds of traits tend to evolve under sexual selection, and under what circumstances. Here we consider sexual selection in the Heteroptera, a sub-order of the Hemiptera, or true bugs. The latter is the largest of the hemimetabolous insect orders, whilst the Heteroptera itself comprises some 40,000-plus described species. We focus on four key sexual signaling modes found in the Heteroptera: chemical signals, acoustic signaling via stridulation, vibrational (substrate) signaling, and finally tactile signaling (antennation). We compare how these modes vary across broad habitat types and provide a review of each type of signal. We ask how we might move towards a more predictive theory of sexual selection, that links mechanisms and targets of sexual selection to various ecologies.
Citation
Gourevitch , E H Z & Shuker , D M 2021 , ' Environmental correlates of sexual signaling in the Heteroptera : a prospective study ' , Insect , vol. 12 , no. 12 , 1079 . https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12121079
Publication
Insect
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
2075-4450Type
Journal item
Description
EG is supported by a School of Biology, University of St Andrews PhD Studentship.Collections
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