Abstract
The study of sexual behavior and the identification of the signals involved in mate recognition between con-specifics are key components that can shed some light, as part of an integrative taxonomic approach, in delimitating species within species complexes. In the Tephritidae family several species complexes have received particular attention as they include important agricultural pests such as the Ceratitis fasciventris (Bezzi), Ceratitis anonae (Graham) and Ceratitis rosa Karsch (FAR) complex, the Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) complex and the Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann) complex. Here the value and usefulness of a methodology that uses walk-in field cages with host trees to assess, under semi-natural conditions, mating compatibility within these complexes is reviewed, and the same methodology to study the role of chemical communication in pre-mating isolation among Anastrepha fraterculus populations is used. Results showed that under the same experimental conditions it was possible to distinguish an entire range of different outcomes: from full mating compatibility among some populations to complete assortative mating among others. The effectiveness of the methodology in contributing to defining species limits was shown in two species complexes: Anastrepha fraterculus and Bactrocera dorsalis, and in the case of the latter the synonymization of several established species was published. We conclude that walk-in field cages constitute a powerful tool to measure mating compatibility, which is also useful to determine the role of chemical signals in species recognition. Overall, this experimental approach provides a good source of information about reproductive boundaries to delimit species. However, it needs to be applied as part of an integrative taxonomic approach that simultaneously assesses cytogenetic, molecular, physiological and morphological traits in order to reach more robust species delimitations.
Highlights
Methodology that uses walk-in field cages with host trees to assess, under semi-natural conditions, mating compatibility within these complexes is reviewed, and the same methodology to study the role of chemical communication in pre-mating isolation among A. fraterculus populations is used
We focused on the Tephritidae family in general, and on the Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann) cryptic species complex and the Bactrocera dorsalis complex (Drew and Hancock 1994) in particular
The Relative Isolation Index (RII) was shown to be more sensitive to slight changes in the number of mating pairs obtained from the different mating combinations (FAO/IAEA/USDA 2014); Male Relative Performance Index (MRPI) and Female Relative Performance Index (FRPI) provide information on the readiness of each sex from the two populations to mate and this has proven to be a reliable indicator of how populations and strains can be more or less competitive or receptive; a different mating location of the mating pairs has been explained by the occurrence of spatial isolation; and differences in the timing of sexual activity of the male and female flies has reflected temporal isolation
Summary
M. Laura Juárez, Francisco Devescovi, Radka Břízová, Guillermo Bachmann, Diego F. De Meyer | Received 22 July 2015 | Accepted 13 September 2015 | Published 26 November 2015 http://zoobank.org/454FDEB8-4A55-48C9-B545-8B3DF2C1E8A8
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