Abstract
The seven-spotted ladybug is a widespread species in the Palearctic, and also acclimated in the Nearctic. It has been classified into different species on the basis of certain morphological characteristics, the geographical origin, and the genitalia structure of both sexes. The morphotypes of North Africa and the Canary Islands are separated, under the name of Coccinella algerica Kovář, 1977, from the rest of the Palearctic and Nearctic populations of Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus, 1758. In this study, we investigated, on one hand, whether potential reproductive barriers have been established during evolution between the geographically isolated North African and the European seven-spotted ladybugs by performing reciprocal crosses. On the other hand, we assessed their cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) divergence by GC–MS. The 33 CHCs indentified are with a skeleton of 23 to 32 carbon atoms. These CHCs are linear alkanes (24.9 ± 3.6%) and methyl-branched alkanes (75.1 ± 3.6%) including monomethylalkanes (48.8 ± 2.4%), dimethylalkanes (24.6 ± 4.0%) and trimethylalkanes (2.0 ± 1.0%). Although all the CHC compounds identified are present in the two seven-spotted ladybugs and their F1 and F2 hybrids, their profiles diverged significantly. However, these chemical divergences have not altered the sexual communication to cause reproductive isolation. The two ladybugs interbreed and leave viable and fertile offspring, with even a heterosis effect on reproductive performances, without phenotypic degradation after the F1 generation. So, these chemical differences are just an intraspecific variability in response to heterogeneous environments. The two types of ladybugs can be considered as two different races of the same species with reduced genetic divergence.
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The data used to support the findings of this study are included in this article. The authors confirm that all other analyzed data and/or raw data generated during this study are available from the corresponding author (A.R.) upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
This work was carried out in the framework of the research activities of the Laboratory of Ecology and Environment (University of Bejaia, Algeria) supported by the Direction Générale de la Recherche Scientifique et du Développement Technologique (DGRSDT) Algeria. The laboratory work was carried out at the Unit of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium) in the framework of the National Exceptional Program (P.N.E), Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MESRS), Algeria. Also, we would like to warmly thank Mr. Louis Hautier (CRA-W, Gembloux, Belgium) for his kind technical help.
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This work was carried out within the unit of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium) thanks to a PhD scholarship accorded to Ahcene REDJDAL in the framework of the exceptional National Program (P.N.E), Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MESRS), Algeria. The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.
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Conceptualization: [Ahcene REDJDAL], [Jean-Christophe De Biseau] and [Aïssa MOALI]; Methodology: [Ahcene REDJDAL] and [Jean-Christophe De Biseau]; Data collection and analysis: [Ahcene REDJDAL], [Jean-Christophe De Biseau]; Writing—original draft preparation: [Ahcene REDJDAL]; Writing—review and editing: [Ahcene REDJDAL], [Mohamed SAHNOUNE], [Jean-Christophe De Biseau] and [Aïssa MOALI]; Supervision: [Jean-Christophe De Biseau].
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Redjdal, A., Sahnoune, M., Moali, A. et al. High Divergence of Cuticular Hydrocarbons and Hybridization Success in Two Allopatric Seven-Spot Ladybugs. J Chem Ecol 49, 103–115 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-023-01406-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-023-01406-5