| Title: | Male pheromone composition depends on larval but not adult diet in Heliconius melpomene |
| Author(s): | Darragh K; Byers K; Merrill RM; McMillan WO; Schulz S; Jiggins CD; |
| Address: | "Department of Zoology University of Cambridge Cambridge U.K. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Panama. Division of Evolutionary Biology Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munich Germany. Department of Life Sciences, Institute of Organic Chemistry, Institute of Organic Chemistry Technische Universitat Braunschweig Braunschweig Germany" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 0307-6946 (Print) 1365-2311 (Electronic) 0307-6946 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "1. Condition-dependent traits can act as honest signals of mate quality, with fitter individuals being able to display preferred phenotypes. Nutrition is known to be an important determinant of individual condition, with diet known to affect many secondary sexual traits. 2. In Heliconius butterflies, male chemical signalling plays an important role in female mate choice. Potential male sex pheromone components have been identified previously, although it is unclear what information they convey to the female. 3. In the present study, the effect of diet on androconial and genital compound production is tested in male Heliconius melpomene rosina. To manipulate larval diet, larvae are reared on three different Passiflora host plants: Passiflora menispermifolia, the preferred host plant, Passiflora vitifolia and Passiflora platyloba. To manipulate adult diet, adult butterflies are reared with and without access to pollen, a key component of their diet. 4. No evidence is found to suggest that adult pollen consumption affects compound production in the first 10 days after eclosion. There is also a strong overlap in the chemical profiles of individuals reared on different larval host plants. The most abundant compounds produced by the butterflies do not differ between host plant groups. However, some compounds found in small amounts differ both qualitatively and quantitatively. Some of these compounds are predicted to be of plant origin and the others synthesised by the butterfly. Further electrophysiological and behavioural experiments will be needed to determine the biological significance of these differences" |
| Keywords: | Chemical signalling Lepidoptera effect of diet host plant mate choice pollen feeding sexual selection; |
| Notes: | "PubMed-not-MEDLINEDarragh, Kathy Byers, Kelsey J R P Merrill, Richard M McMillan, W Owen Schulz, Stefan Jiggins, Chris D eng England 2019/06/21 Ecol Entomol. 2019 Jun; 44(3):397-405. doi: 10.1111/een.12716. Epub 2019 Jan 16" |
