Meeting Abstract
The treehopper Enchenopa binotata uses substrate-borne vibrational signals that travel through the plant stem for sexual communication. Males produce mate attraction signals to which females respond—if those signals match their preferred frequency (Hz)—to initiate pair formation. Treehoppers live in thermally variable environments, and nothing is known about how their signals and preferences may change with temperature, and nor whether genetic variation in responses to temperature exist. Here, we tested for the thermal sensitivity and heritability of signal traits and preferences using a full-sib, split-brood quantitative genetics design. Using a vibrational playback experiment, we tested the frequency of male signals and female peak preference across five ecologically relevant temperatures (21 – 33° C). We then calculated the heritability of 1) signal frequency (males) and preference (females), and 2) the signal and preference thermal reaction norms. We found that both male signals and female preference positively correlate with temperature, but only male signals were significantly heritable. We also found no significant genetic variation in the thermal reaction norms (i.e. no gene by environment interaction) for either male signals or female preferences. Overall, while treehopper signals and preference are thermally plastic, the lack of variation in thermal sensitivity between signals and preferences, and lack of variation across genotypes, suggests that mate-pair formation should not be disrupted by changes in temperature.
