VARIATION IN GENETIC ARCHITECTURE OF CALLING SONG AMONG POPULATIONS OF ALLONEMOBIUS SOCIUS, A. FASCIATUS, AND A HYBRID POPULATION: DRIFT OR SELECTION?

Predictions using quantitative genetic models generally assume that the variance-covariance matrices remain constant over time. This assumption is based on the supposition that selection is generally weak and hence variation lost through selection can be replaced by new mutations. Whether this is generally true can only be ascertained from empirical studies. Ideally for such a study we should be able to make a prediction concerning the relative strength of selection versus genetic drift. If the latter force is prevalent then the variance-covariances matrices should be proportional to each other. Previous studies have indicated that females in the two sibling cricket species Allonemobius socius and A. fasciatus do not discriminate between males of the two species by their calling song. Therefore, differences between the calling song of the two males most likely result from drift rather than sexual selection. We test this hypothesis by comparing the genetic architecture of calling song of three populations of A. fasciatus with two populations of A. socius. We found no differences among populations within species, but significant differences in the G (genetic) and P (phenotypic) matrices between species, with the matrices being proportional as predicted under the hypothesis of genetic drift. Because of the proportional change in the (co)variances no differences between species are evident in the heritabilities or genetic correlations. Comparison of the two species with a hybrid population from a zone of overlap showed highly significant nonproportional variation in genetic architecture. This variation is consistent with a general mixture of two separate genomes or selection. Qualitative conclusions reached using the phenotypic matrices are the same as those reached using the genetic matrices supporting the hypothesis that the former may be used as surrogate measures of the latter. © 1999 The Society for the Study of Evolution.