ETHOLOGICAL DIVERGENCE IN ALLOPATRY AND ASYMMETRICAL ISOLATION IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC AEDES SCUTELLARIS SUBGROUP

Ethological isolation among eight species of mosquitoes in the Aedes scutellaris subgroup of the south Pacific was investigated by offering females a simultaneous choice between males of their own species and males of another species. The degree of ethological isolation between these largely allopatric, island-dwelling mosquitoes was associated with time since the species had become geographically isolated by the fragmentation of the Outer Melanesian Arc 2-10 mya. The degree of ethological isolation between species pairs was observed to be significantly correlated with the degree of genetic isolation based on other published studies of allozyme variation and percentage egg hatch from interspecific hybridizations. However, ethological isolation was asymmetrical for some species pairs within the same island region. Asymmetrical isolation was especially prominent in Polynesia, where females of two older species discriminated against males of newer species, while females of the newer species failed to discriminate.