Mate recognition in orchid bees is mediated by acquired chemical signals.
- 1Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
- 2Department of Animal Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany.
- 3Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Ft. Lauderdale Research and Education Center, Davie, FL 33314, USA.
Abstract
The evolution of prezygotic reproductive barriers plays a central role in speciation and is often mediated by divergence in mating signals. Male orchid bees collect volatile compounds from the environment to concoct species-specific perfumes that function as sexual chemical signals during courtship display. While perfumes are thought to convey species recognition, their direct role in assortative mating remains unresolved. Here, we experimentally tested whether perfume composition facilitates mate recognition between 2 recently diverged and sympatric sister species, Euglossa dilemma and E. viridissima. We collected perfumes from males in sympatric regions of Mexico and experimentally supplemented E. dilemma males with either conspecific (E. dilemma) or heterospecific (E. viridissima) perfumes. We conducted single-choice mating assays and found that the rate of male courtship display did not differ between treatments. However, females of E. dilemma exhibited a strong preference for males with conspecific perfumes. While 77% of males loaded with E. dilemma perfume mated, only 8% of males loaded with E. viridissima perfume mated. Our results support the hypothesis that perfume composition alone can mediate reproductive isolation in orchid bees. These findings highlight the role of environmentally acquired signals as extended phenotypes that can rapidly generate behavioral isolation and contribute to speciation.
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BibTeX
@article{sandoval2026mate,
title = {{Mate recognition in orchid bees is mediated by acquired chemical signals.}},
author = {Marissa C Sandoval and Janosch Dohrs and Thomas Chouvenc and Thomas Eltz and Santiago R Ramírez},
journal = {Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/beheco/arag124},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42923440},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Mate recognition in orchid bees is mediated by acquired chemical signals.
AU - Marissa C Sandoval
AU - Janosch Dohrs
AU - Thomas Chouvenc
AU - Thomas Eltz
AU - Santiago R Ramírez
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
JO - Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology
DO - 10.1093/beheco/arag124
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42923440
AB - The evolution of prezygotic reproductive barriers plays a central role in speciation and is often mediated by divergence in mating signals. Male orchid bees collect volatile compounds from the environment to concoct species-specific perfumes that function as sexual chemical signals during courtship display. While perfumes are thought to convey species recognition, their direct role in assortative mating remains unresolved. Here, we experimentally tested whether perfume composition facilitates mate recognition between 2 recently diverged and sympatric sister species, Euglossa dilemma and E. viridissima. We collected perfumes from males in sympatric regions of Mexico and experimentally supplemented E. dilemma males with either conspecific (E. dilemma) or heterospecific (E. viridissima) perfumes. We conducted single-choice mating assays and found that the rate of male courtship display did not differ between treatments. However, females of E. dilemma exhibited a strong preference for males with conspecific perfumes. While 77% of males loaded with E. dilemma perfume mated, only 8% of males loaded with E. viridissima perfume mated. Our results support the hypothesis that perfume composition alone can mediate reproductive isolation in orchid bees. These findings highlight the role of environmentally acquired signals as extended phenotypes that can rapidly generate behavioral isolation and contribute to speciation.
SN - 1045-2249
SN - 1465-7279
ER -