Temperature drives pre‐reproductive selection and shapes the biogeography of a female polymorphism

• Published in: Ecology letters Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 149 - 159
• Main Authors: Svensson, Erik I., Willink, Beatriz, Duryea, Mary Catherine, Lancaster, Lesley T., Grether, Greg
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.01.2020
• Subjects: Abiotic factors; adults; Animals; Biogeography; Biologi; Biological Sciences; climate; Color; colour polymorphism; Conflicts of interest; Drive; ecology; Evolutionary Biology; Evolutionsbiologi; Female; Females; frequency-dependent selection; Insecta; Insects; Male; males; Mimicry; Natural Sciences; Naturvetenskap; Ontogeny; Polymorphism; Polymorphism, Genetic; pre-reproductive selection; Reproduction; Reproduction (biology); sexual conflict; sexual maturity; Temperature; sexual conflict; frequency-dependent selection; Biogeography; temperature; climate; colour polymorphism; ontogeny; pre-reproductive selection
• ISSN: 1461-023X; 1461-0248; 1461-0248
• DOI: 10.1111/ele.13417

Conflicts of interests between males and females over reproduction is a universal feature of sexually reproducing organisms and has driven the evolution of intersexual mimicry, mating behaviours and reproductive polymorphisms. Here, we show how temperature drives pre‐reproductive selection in a female colour polymorphic insect that is subject to strong sexual conflict. These species have three female colour morphs, one of which is a male mimic. This polymorphism is maintained by frequency‐dependent sexual conflict caused by male mating harassment. The frequency of female morphs varies geographically, with higher frequency of the male mimic at higher latitudes. We show that differential temperature sensitivity of the female morphs and faster sexual maturation of the male mimic increases the frequency of this morph in the north. These results suggest that sexual conflict during the adult stage is shaped by abiotic factors and frequency‐independent pre‐reproductive selection that operate earlier during ontogeny of these female morphs.