Sexual dimorphism and specific patterns of development contribute in a great manner to the direction and degree of the sexual differences in body size and shape in many insects. Using a landmark-based geometric morpohometrics approach, we investigated sex-specific morphological size and shape variation in the seed beetle, Acanthoscelides obtectus. We also tested the functional hypothesis of the two morphological modules—thorax and abdomen in both sexes. Female-biased sexual dimorphism in size was shown, while differences in shape were reflected in the wider thorax and abdomen and shorter abdomen in females in comparison to males. The functional hypothesis of a two-module body was confirmed only in females before correction for size, and in both sexes after the allometry correction. Our results indicate that reproductive function has the central role in forming the patterns of modularity. We hypothesize that high morphological integration of the abdomen in females results from intense stabilizing selection, while the more relaxed integration in males is driven by the higher intensity of sexual selection.

Mating behavior is based on communication among mates and includes both sexual signaling and mating preferences. In phytophagous insects, shift to a novel host will expose associated traits to novel selection regimes and eventually cause assortative mating and sexual isolation between populations inhabiting diverse host plants. We investigated the relationship between short- and long-term changes in mating systems on Acanthoscelides obtectus. Mating preferences were evaluated using measures of copulation frequency in mating trials within and among populations and by measuring time spent in sexual interactions prior to copulation. Sexual signaling was previously analyzed by chemical detection of contact pheromones (i.e., cuticular hydrocarbons [CHCs]), and these results were used in this study. Laboratory populations evolved for 50 generations either on the optimal host (common bean) or on the suboptimal host (chickpea). To determine short-term effects, subsets of individuals from each population were exposed to the alternative host for 1 generation. We revealed higher level of indiscriminate mating in populations, which evolved on the suboptimal host. Males from these populations spent less time in assessing mates although they had the ability to discriminate between signals. Short-term larval experience on the suboptimal host also decreased selectivity of mates. The results imply that plastically induced reduction in mate discrimination, after a shift to suboptimal host, may have been canalized through long-term genetic changes underlying behavioral development. Significant reproductive isolation between the 2 sets of populations was revealed regardless of the short-term host treatment.