Journal
ECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY
Volume 28, Issue 4, Pages 405-412Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2311.2003.00524.x
Keywords
ecological speciation; feeding behaviour; plant chemistry; plant-herbivore interactions; stimulant
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
1. In ecological speciation , adaptation to variation in the external environment provides the crucial push that starts the process of genetic divergence and eventually leads to speciation. This emphasis on the role of ecological specialisation in speciation events has brought with it a renewed interest in its proximate mechanisms in recently diverged groups such as host races. Here, the proximate mechanisms of feeding specialisation are investigated in two host races of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum . 2. Using alfalfa and clover extracts, enclosed in diet chambers or applied on whole plants, it is shown that feeding specialisation depends on recognition of stimulants specific to the host plant, not on deterrents or toxins specific to the non-host plants. 3. Because pea aphids mate on their host plant, feeding specialisation leads to de facto assortative mating. This study suggests that behavioural recognition of host-specific chemicals, rather than avoidance of deterrents or/and plant toxins, contributes to gene flow restriction between the alfalfa and clover host races.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available