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Vibratory Communication and its Relevance to Reproductive Isolation in two Sympatric Stink Bug Species (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae: Pentatominae)

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Abstract

Communication is in phytophagous stink bugs of the subfamily Pentatominae related to mating behavior that among others includes location and recognition of the partner during calling and courting. Differences in temporal and frequency parameters of vibratory signals contributes to species reproductive isolation. Chinavia impicticornis and C. ubica are two green Neotropical stink bugs that live and mate on the same host plants. We tested the hypothesis that differences in temporal and spectral characteristics of both species vibratory signals enable their recognition to that extent that it interrupts further interspecific communication and copulation. To confirm or reject this hypothesis we monitored both species mating behaviour and recorded their vibratory songs on the non-resonant loudspeaker membranes and on the plant. The level of interspecific vibratory communication was tested also by playback experiments. Reproductive behavior and vibratory communication show similar patterns in both Chinavia species. Differences observed in temporal and spectral characteristics of female and male signals enable species discrimination by PCA analyses. Insects that respond to heterospecific vibratory signals do not step forward to behaviors leading to copulation. Results suggest that species isolation takes place in both investigated Chinavia species at an early stage of mating behavior reducing reproductive interference and the probability of heterospecific mating.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Samantha da Silveira for technical support with insect rearing and playback experiments and colleague from The National Institute of Biology in Ljubljana and from the Semiochemical Laboratory, EMBRAPA Genetic Resources and Biotechnology in Brasilia for fruitful discussion with comments on the manuscript. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments that help to improve first version of the manuscript. This work received financial support from Slovenian Research Agency, program number: P1-0255, project number: BI-BR/12-12/002 and CNPq-MHNEST 40245/2011-0. FAP-DF project 193.000.023-2012 and Embrapa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Semiochemicals Laboratory, Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Avda W5 Norte (Final), Brasília, DF, 71070-917, Brazil

    Raul A. Laumann, Maria Carolina Blassioli-Moraes & Miguel Borges

  2. Department of Organisms and Ecosystems, National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 111, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Andrej Čokl

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  1. Raul A. Laumann
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  2. Andrej Čokl
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Correspondence to Raul A. Laumann.

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Laumann, R.A., Čokl, A., Blassioli-Moraes, M.C. et al. Vibratory Communication and its Relevance to Reproductive Isolation in two Sympatric Stink Bug Species (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae: Pentatominae). J Insect Behav 29, 643–665 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-016-9585-x

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