Early-exposure to new sex pheromone blends alters mate preference in female butterflies and in their offspring

Dion, Emilie; Pui, Li Xian; Weber, Katherine T.; Monteiro, Antónia

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13801-2

Cited by 22 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…H. melpomene butterflies are relatively long-lived (up to 6 months in nature) (Gilbert, 1972), highly social (they roost in groups at night) (Mallet and Gilbert, 1995), and learn food sources and color cues (Toure et al, 2020). They have large brains (Montgomery et al, 2016) and are both physically larger, and longer lived than the butterfly Bicyclus anynana , which also uses past experience to inform current mating behavior (Dion et al, 2020; Westerman et al, 2012; Westerman et al, 2014). However, the negative effect of the pre-mating social exposure, and the wing-pattern-specific response to this pre-mating social exposure, were unexpected.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wing-pattern-specific effects of experience on mating behavior inHeliconius melpomenebutterflies

Rather

Herzog

Ernst

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Many animals have the ability to learn, and some taxa have shown learned mate preference. This learning may be important for speciation in some species. The butterfly Heliconius melpomene is a model system for several areas of research, including hybridization, mate selection, and speciation, partially due to its widespread diversity of wing patterns. It remains unclear whether these butterflies can learn to prefer certain mates and if social experience shapes realized mating preferences. Here we test whether previous experience with a female influences male mate preference for two different H. melpomene subspecies, H. m. malleti and H. m. rosina. We conducted no-choice behavioral assays to determine if latency to court and whether males courted (vs no courtship) differed between naive males and males with previous exposure to a young, sexually mature, virgin female. To test whether assortative courtship preference is learned in H. melpomene, males were either paired with a female who shared their phenotype or one who did not. Naive H. m. malletti males courted assortatively, while naive H. m. rosina males did not. Experienced H. m. malleti males reduced their courting relative to naive males, suggesting that social experience with a sexually mature female that does not result in copulation may be perceived as a negative experience. In contrast, experienced H. m. rosina males exhibited similar courting rates to naive H. m. rosina males. Our results suggest that social experience can influence male mating behavior in H. melpomene and that behavioral plasticity may differ across populations in this species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wing-pattern-specific effects of experience on mating behavior inHeliconius melpomenebutterflies

Rather

Herzog

Ernst

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…By associating rewarding or aversive experiences with sensory cues, animals can adopt flexible behavioural responses in different conditions. Butterflies learn associations in several contexts including nectar foraging [14,39], host-plant seeking [19,40], and mate choice [41,42]. This has important ecological effects, providing mechanisms to adapt to changes in resource availability [19], facilitating range expansion [12], and optimising reproductive behaviours [42].…”

Section: Cognitive Neuroecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking ecological specialisation to adaptations in butterfly brains and sensory systems

Couto

Wainwright

Morris

et al. 2020

Current Opinion in Insect Science

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Butterflies display incredible ecological and behavioural diversity. As such, they have been subject to intense study since the birth of evolutionary biology. However, with some possible exceptions, they are underused models in comparative and functional neurobiology. We highlight a series of areas, spanning sensory ecology to cognition, in which butterflies are particularly promising systems for investigating the neurobiological basis for behavioural or ecological variation. These fields benefit from a history of molecular and quantitative genetics, and basic comparative neuroanatomy, but these strands of research are yet to be widely integrated. We discuss areas for potential growth and argue that new experimental techniques, growing genomic resources, and tools for functional genetics will accelerate the use of butterflies in neurobiology. Highlights:• Butterflies are underutilised in evolutionary neurobiology and neuroethology• They showcase recent ecological radiations and striking behavioural innovations • Broad range of sensory ecologies reflected in sensory systems • Variable brain morphologies suggesting diverse adaptations in neural circuitry • Selected species can become models for functional neuro-genetics and development

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“…Female B. anynana butterflies also learned to prefer novel sex pheromone blends when exposed to those blends early in life. This learned preference was passed down to the next generation [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inheritance of Acquired Traits in Insects and Other Animals and the Epigenetic Mechanisms That Break the Weismann Barrier

Gowri

Monteiro

2021

JDB

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The credibility of the Weismann barrier has come into question. Several studies in various animal systems, from mice to worms, have shown that novel environmental stimuli can generate an altered developmental or behavioral trait that can be transmitted to offspring of the following generation. Recently, insects have become ideal models to study the inheritance of acquired traits. This is because insects can be reared in high numbers at low cost, they have short generation times and produce abundant offspring. Numerous studies have shown that an insect can modify its phenotype in response to a novel stimulus to aid its survival, and also that this modified phenotypic trait can be inherited by its offspring. Epigenetic mechanisms are likely at play but, most studies do not address the mechanisms that underlie the inheritance of acquired traits in insects. Here we first review general epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation, histone acetylation and small noncoding RNAs that have been implicated in the transmission of acquired traits in animals, then we focus on the few insect studies in which these mechanisms have been investigated.

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Early-exposure to new sex pheromone blends alters mate preference in female butterflies and in their offspring

Cited by 22 publications

References 46 publications

Wing-pattern-specific effects of experience on mating behavior inHeliconius melpomenebutterflies

Wing-pattern-specific effects of experience on mating behavior inHeliconius melpomenebutterflies

Linking ecological specialisation to adaptations in butterfly brains and sensory systems

Inheritance of Acquired Traits in Insects and Other Animals and the Epigenetic Mechanisms That Break the Weismann Barrier

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