Marta Lucía Martínez Wells

• PhD Zoology
• Yale University

All of the cryptic species in the Chrysoperla carnea-group of green lacewings produce substrate-borne duetting songs by vibrating the abdomen up and down. Here, we examine the motion of the abdomen during song production using a high-speed video camera. Through temporal (oscillogram) and frequency (sonogram) analysis, these motions are compared to...

An unusual system of communication has evolved in green lacewings of the Chrysoperla carnea-group, triggering rapid proliferation of numerous cryptic species across all of the Northern Hemisphere and large portions of Africa. The system is based on sexually monomorphic, substrate-borne vibrational signals, produced by abdominal oscillation. These l...

An unusual system of communication has evolved in green lacewings of the Chrysoperla carnea‐group, triggering rapid proliferation of numerous cryptic species across all of the Northern Hemisphere and large portions of Africa. The system is based on sexually monomorphic, substrate‐borne vibrational signals, produced by abdominal oscillation. These l...

Green lacewings of the Chrysoperla carnea species group use substrate-borne vibrational duetting songs rather than morphology or pheromones for species recognition. Because each of the many cryptic, reproductively isolated song species typically has an extensive geographic range, potentially interfertile biological species are broadly sympatric, an...

Courtship songs are an important reproductive barrier in lacewings of the genus Chrysoperla, so heterotypic matings should occur less readily than homotypic matings. In addition, if song morphs have become separate species, there may be some postzygotic isolation between song morphs. Two generations of crosses using sympatric P1 and P3 morphs of Ch...

Cryptic species may seem identical to us, but not to each other. The Chrysoperla carnea group of green lacewings has species-specific substrate-borne duetting songs that maintain reproductive isolation among its cryptic species. We propose that sympatric species of the group will partition acoustic niche space so as to minimize mating mistakes. Sib...

Songs produced during heterosexual duets in a green lacewing, C. plorabunda, are sexually monomorphic. However, individuals of either sex will also engage in intrasexual duets, which can exhibit sexual dimorphism. We confined males and females together in various combinations in a small arena to study the phenotypes, behavioral interactions, and fu...

Green lacewings in the carnea group of Chrysoperla engage in species-specific heterosexual duets using low-frequency substrate-borne signals. Within each species, both sexes sing nearly identical songs. Songs are the principal barriers to hybridization between sympatric species in the complex. Here, we investigated the responsiveness of males and f...

Green lacewings of the carnea group of Chrysoperla constitute a large complex of cryptic species that differ principally in their substrate-borne, vibrational mating signals. Sexual selection has very likely contributed to their recent and rapid divergence. Some theoretical models require that evolutionary environmental adaptation assist sexual sel...

Speciation often involves incremental responses to natural selection and results in large scale genomic changes, but it may also occur abruptly and with little genetic imprint, as seen in some complexes of cryptic species. Recent attention has focused on sexual selection in rapid speciation, because it can disrupt premating signals that mediate rep...

Although traits of related species are likely to be similar due to common ancestry, mating signals are an exception. In singing insects, for example, song similarity has been documented only for allopatric or allochronic species pairs, and even then, not often. Where song similarity does occur, it has been logically attributed to the inheritance of...

Although traits of related species are likely to be similar due to common ancestry, mating signals are an exception. In singing insects, for example, song similarity has been documented only for allopatric or allochronic species pairs, and even then, not often. Where song similarity does occur, it has been logically attributed to the inheritance of...

Seven populations of four species of green lacewings of the genus Chrysoperla were examined for variation at 17 electrophoretically detectable loci. Objectives were (1) to determine the degree of genetic differentiation, if any, that has occurred between two cryptic sibling species, C. plorabunda (Fitch) and C. johnsoni (Henry et al.), which can be...

The study of hybrid courtship songs and the behavioral responses of hybrids and parental individuals to hybrid songs can be useful in understanding the origin of reproductive isolation among species that differ mainly in their courtship songs. Here we test the hypotheses (a) that hybrid lacewings prefer hybrid songs to either of the parental songs...

Two new species and one new combination in the green lacewing genus Chrysoperla are presented, based principally on species-specific features of their substrate-borne, vibrational courtship songs. The three are North American taxa with broad geographical ranges. All were previously considered part of a single species, variously referred to as C. pl...

The courtship song of the P1 morph of the Chrysoperla plorabunda complex consists of a volley of tremulation about 600 ms long and modulated in frequency from 77 to 40 Hz. It is repeated every second, and a female responds to a male with a volley of her own after each of the latter's volleys. Synthetic songs were used in playback experiments to det...

Vibrational tremulation songs of Chrysoperla green lacewings have been shown to have a strong reproductive isolating effect on otherwise identical and interfertile populations, indicating the presence of cryptic, sibling species within the genus. The substrate‐borne songs consist of pulses or volleys of abdominal vibration and are characterized by...

Male and female lacewings tremulate during courtship, establishing duets that always precede copulation. Three distinct courtship songs are found in populations of the green lacewing Chrysoperla plorabunda (P1, P2 and P3 song morphs). Analysis of five features of the songs for individuals collected from Connecticut, Idaho, Oregon and California sho...

Male and female lacewings tremulate during courtship, establishing duets that always precede copulation. Three distinct courtship songs are found in populations of the green lacewing Chrysoperla plorabunda (P1, P2 and P3 song morphs). Analysis of five features of the songs for individuals collected from Connecticut, Idaho, Oregon and California sho...

This study investigated the importance of courtship songs in maintaining reproductive isolation between three distinct song morphs of green lacewings in the Chrysoperla plorabunda complex, as well as the degree of genetic divergence among populations. Males and females establish duets during courtship that culminate in copulation. The songs differ...

Green Iacewings of the widespread North American Chrysoperla plorabunda (Fitch) are morphologically and ecologically homogeneous but polymorphic with respect to their substrate-borne courtship songs. At least three distinct song morphs can be recognized. One of these, here called P1, best corresponds to C. plorabunda as originally defined. Geograph...