Courtship choreography is stabilized among genetically isolated populations

Area of Science:

• Behavioral ecology
• Evolutionary biology
• Animal behavior

Background:

• Sexual selection drives intricate animal courtship displays, but how these displays diverge remains a paradox.
• Failure in courtship choreography can significantly impact reproductive success, highlighting the importance of display evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the divergence of courtship display choreography in three isolated populations of the dancing dune fly, *Apotropina ornatipennis*.
• To determine which courtship elements diverge first, the speed of new behavior emergence, and sequence rearrangements in display modules.

Main Methods:

• Combined population genetics with detailed quantification of courtship displays in *Apotropina ornatipennis*.
• Analyzed courtship choreography across three geographically isolated populations on Australian beaches.

Main Results:

• Complex courtship repertoires in dune flies are largely stable, even with genetic and geographic isolation.
• The frequency of the "wing sweep" display element was the only aspect showing significant divergence among the studied populations.

Conclusions:

• Complex courtship displays can exhibit remarkable stability over short evolutionary timescales.
• Findings challenge the assumption that courtship behavior rapidly diverges in allopatric populations.