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Non-Ecological Radiations in Acoustically Communicating Grasshoppers?

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Evolution in Action

Abstract

The analysis of mechanisms of how populations differentiate and new species arise is fundamental for understanding the evolution of biological diversity. Mating preferences and sexually selected characters can rapidly diverge between populations, and this can probably lead to premating reproductive isolation and hence the evolution of new species. We have investigated the role of a complex bidirectional acoustic communication system for the radiation of grasshoppers of the subfamily Gomphocerinae. Species are characterized by species-specific songs, which result from complex stridulatory movement patterns of both hind legs. A molecular phylogeny indicates that within the genera Chorthippus and Stenobothrus several species-rich taxa diverged recently and thus represent independent radiations. Divergence in allopatry and hybridization after secondary contact are two mechanisms that led to new song types and female preferences and thus may have contributed to rapid speciation by the evolution of premating reproductive isolation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Jana Ustinova and Klaus-Gerhard Heller for fruitful discussions and important suggestions for the manuscript. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the Staedtler-Foundation supported our work financially.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity, Humboldt University Berlin, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany

    Frieder Mayer

  2. Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden, Museum of Zoology, Königsbrücker Landstraße 159, 01109, Dresden, Germany

    Dirk Berger

  3. Department of Population Ecology, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030, Vienna, Austria

    Brigitte Gottsberger

  4. Animal Physiology, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstraße, 30, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany

    Wolfram Schulze

Authors
  1. Frieder Mayer
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  2. Dirk Berger
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  3. Brigitte Gottsberger
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  4. Wolfram Schulze
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Frieder Mayer .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Museum für Naturkunde, Humboldt Universität Berlin, Invalidenstraße 43, Berlin, 10115, Germany

    Matthias Glaubrecht

Additional information

We dedicate this chapter to Professor Dr. Otto von Helversen, who studied the evolution of acoustic communication in grasshoppers for more than 30 years and who tragically died during drafting this review.

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Mayer, F., Berger, D., Gottsberger, B., Schulze, W. (2010). Non-Ecological Radiations in Acoustically Communicating Grasshoppers?. In: Glaubrecht, M. (eds) Evolution in Action. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12425-9_21

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