Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (2008) 94, 289-301

Hojun Song and John W. Wenzel (2008)
Mosaic pattern of genital divergence in three populations of Schistocerca lineata Scudder, 1899 (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Cyrtacanthacridinae)
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 94 (2), 289-301
Abstract: Sexual selection theory predicts that genital structures in isolated populations are likely to diverge, but male genitalia are often species-specific, which led to the idea that male genitalia are relatively invariable within species. Previous allometric studies collectively suggested that male genitalia are intraspecifically invariable in size compared with external body parts. We investigated whether male genitalia are invariable in shape in three populations of a grasshopper Schistocerca lineata Scudder, 1899, using two independent methods of geometric morphometric analyses. Specifically, we focused on the idea that male genitalia are complex structures consisting of many functionally different components, and studied how these individual parts diverge among three populations. Individual components of male genitalia show different population-level divergence, resulting in the mosaic pattern of genital divergence. Individual components diverge independently from each other. Body size is positively correlated with genitalia size, but is significantly correlated with the shape of only one of the three genital structures we measured. Thus, different components of male genitalia may be influenced by different evolutionary processes. This study is the first to show that components of complex genitalia evolve separately within a species.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Hojun Song

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution
identification/taxonomy

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Schistocerca lineata