In particular, sexual communication in insects involves long- and short-range pheromones, which play multiple roles. The mechanisms by which species maintain their integrity are diverse and involve a combination of multiple signals of intra- and interspecific communications such as chemical, visual, auditory and tactile cues. Altogether, these results suggest that chemicals are the major reproductive barrier opposing gene flow between these two sister and co-mimic species. Also, experiments with hybrid males and females suggested an important genetic component for both chemical production and preference. In agreement with our previous results, we found that chemical blends and not wing colour pattern drive the preference of females for conspecific males. We then conducted behavioural experiments to study the importance of these signals in mate recognition by females. As expected, the wing colour pattern was indistinguishable between the two species, while the chemical profile of the androconial and genital males' extracts showed marked differences.
In order to test which cues differ between species, and potentially contribute to reproductive isolation, we quantified differences in the wing phenotype and the male chemical profile. timareta florencia occur in the same geographical region, and despite being co-mimics, they display strong reproductive isolation. The closely related species Heliconius melpomene malleti and H. However, when this cue is compromised such as in cases of mimetic, sympatric and closely related species, alternative mating signals must evolve to ensure reproductive isolation and species integrity. Colour pattern is the main trait that drives mate recognition between Heliconius species that are phylogenetically close.
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