The harmonic convergence of fathers predicts the mating success of sons in Aedes aegypti

During courtship males often communicate information about their fitness to females. The matching of harmonic components of flight tone in male–female pairs of flying mosquitoes, or harmonic convergence, was recently described. This behaviour occurs prior to mating and has been suggested to function in mate selection. We investigated the hypothesis that harmonic convergence is a component of mosquito courtship. A key prediction of this hypothesis is that harmonic convergence should provide information to potential mates about fitness benefits. We measured the effect of harmonic convergence behaviour on the direct and indirect benefits obtained by females. We found that the sons of pairs that converged at harmonic frequencies prior to mating had increased mating success and that these offspring were themselves more likely to converge prior to mating. These results suggest that males may be able to signal information about their genetic quality to females prior to mating and that this signal may be heritable. These findings are important for our understanding of mosquito behaviour and have applications in the control of mosquito-borne disease. This study also contributes to the study of male–female interactions and signal coevolution.

► We tested the hypothesis that harmonic convergence is a component of mosquito courtship.
► We examined direct and indirect benefits of harmonic convergence to females.
► Sons of converging pairs had higher mating success.
► Sons of converging pairs were also more likely to show convergence before mating.
► Males may signal genetic quality to females before mating and this signal may be heritable.