Search results for " Pheromones"
showing 10 items of 11 documents
Rhynchophorus ferrugineus: Behavior, Ecology, and Communication
2017
Red palm weevil (RPW) ecology is characterized by the adults' ability to aggregate on palms. The aggregation process has the functions of protection, feeding, and reproduction for the individuals. Semiochemicals and visual cues strongly influence this behavior at intraspecific and interspecific levels. Adults actively fly over long distances, following chemical cues, such as aggregation pheromone and host plant odor, or visual cues to colonize a new host. The aggregation pheromone of RPW is a male-produced mixture of 4-methyl-5-nonanol (major component) and the related ketone 4-methyl-5-nonanone (minor component). These compounds are largely used in the field to lure males and especially fe…
Covariation and phenotypic integration in chemical communication displays: biosynthetic constraints and eco-evolutionary implications
2018
Chemical communication is ubiquitous. The identification of conserved structural elements in visual and acoustic communication is well established, but comparable information on chemical communication displays (CCDs) is lacking. We assessed the phenotypic integration of CCDs in a meta‐analysis to characterize patterns of covariation in CCDs and identified functional or biosynthetically constrained modules. Poorly integrated plant CCDs (i.e. low covariation between scent compounds) support the notion that plants often utilize one or few key compounds to repel antagonists or to attract pollinators and enemies of herbivores. Animal CCDs (mostly insect pheromones) were usually more integrated t…
Symmetry breaking in mass-recruiting ants: extent of foraging biases depends on resource quality.
2016
Abstract The communication involved in the foraging behaviour of social insects is integral to their success. Many ant species use trail pheromones to make decisions about where to forage. The strong positive feedback caused by the trail pheromone is thought to create a decision between two or more options. When the two options are of identical quality, this is known as symmetry breaking, and is important because it helps colonies to monopolise food sources in a competitive environment. Symmetry breaking is thought to increase with the quantity of pheromone deposited by ants, but empirical studies exploring the factors affecting symmetry breaking are limited. Here, we tested if (i) greater …
Can Mating Disruption Be a Possible Route to Control Plum Fruit Moth in Mediterranean Environments?
2020
Simple Summary Grapholita funebrana is a main pest of plum throughout the Palearctic region. The management of this pest is generally carried out with chemical insecticides. In this study we investigated the suitability of the mating disruption as alternative method of control of this pest. Experiments were carried out in organic plum orchards during 2012 and 2014. Trap catches and fruit sampling were carried out to estimate the efficacy of this technique in reducing males catch and fruit infestation. The results indicated that the males caught in traps placed in the treatment plots was always significantly lower than untreated plots. The chemical analysis of the pheromone emission from the…
Mammary odor cues and pheromones: mammalian infant-directed communication about maternal state, mammae, and milk
2010
International audience; Neonatal mammals are exposed to an outstandingly powerful selective pressure at birth, and any mean to alleviate their localization effort and accelerate acceptance to orally grasp a nipple and ingest milk should have had advantageous consequences over evolutionary time. Thus, it is essential for females to display a biological interface structure that is sensorily conspicuous and executively easy for their newborns. Females' strategy to increase the conspicuousness of nipples could only exploit the newborns' most advanced and conserved sensory systems, touch and olfaction, and selection has accordingly shaped tactilely and olfactorily conspicuous mammary structures.…
Independence of first- and second-order memories in newborn rabbits
2011
WOS:000291649400006; International audience; The mammary pheromone promotes the acquisition of novel odorants (CS1) in newborn rabbits. Here, experiments pinpoint that CS1 becomes able to support neonatal learning of other odorants (CS2). We therefore evaluated whether these first- and second-order memories remained dependent after reactivation. Amnesia induced after CS2 recall selectively blocked this memory, when recall and amnesia of CS1 left the souvenir of CS2 safe; this finding partially differed from results obtained in adult mammals. Thus, in this model of neonatal appetitive odor learning, second-order memory seems to depend on first-order memory for its formation but not for its m…
Experience influences elemental and configural perception of certain binary odour mixtures in newborn rabbits.
2011
SUMMARY Elemental and configural olfactory perception allows interaction with the environment from very early in life. To evaluate how newborn rabbits can extract and respond to information from the highly complex chemical surroundings, and how experience acts on this sensory, cognitive and behavioural capability, we ran a study in four steps including a total of eight experiments. We mainly used a binary AB mixture comprising ethyl isobutyrate (component A) and ethyl maltol (component B), previously shown as a bearer of blending properties; in rabbit pups (as in human adults), the mixture elicits a weak configural perception, i.e. the perception of a configural odour different from the odo…
Brain processing of the mammary pheromone in newborn rabbits.
2011
International audience; Chemosignals strongly contribute to social interactions in mammals, including mother-young relationships. In the European rabbit, a volatile compound emitted by lactating females in milk, the 2-methylbut-2-enal, has been isolated. Carrying the properties of a pheromone, in particular the spontaneous ability to release critical sucking-related movements in newborns, it has been called the mammary pheromone (MP). Lesion of the vomeronasal organ and preliminary 2-deoxyglucose data suggested that the MP could be processed by the main olfactory system. However, the neuronal substrate that sustains the MP-induced response of neonates remained unknown. Here, we evaluated Fo…
Chemical ecology of Bagrada hilaris (Burmeister) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae): intraspecific and interspecific chemical cues
2020
The chemical ecology of Heteroptera insects is determined by a wide array of chemical signals (semiochemicals) that drive their behavior at intra- and inter-specific level. Intraspecific semiochemicals are called pheromones, interspecific chemicals are named allelochemicals. In the case of stink bugs, sex-pheromones and aggregation pheromone are produced by adult males. Furthermore, phytophagous stink bugs exploit chemical cues emitted from plants to find a suitable food and oviposition source. The semiochemicals involved in this process are named kairomones and are generally formed by specific blend or key odorants emitted from host plant. The chemical ecology of the phytophagous Pentatomi…
Sexual communication in the egg parasitoid Trissolcus brochymenae
2009
The males of the egg parasitoid Trissolcus brochymenae (Hymenoptera Scelionidae) exploit a short range pheromone for recognition of the other gender. To evaluate the role of this pheromone, the behavior of virgin males has been studied in closed arena when exposed to the following cues: 1) virgin females (alive, dead "washed" with solvents, dead" unwashed"); 2) dissected and re-assembled virgin females (females dissected into head, mesosoma, and gaster, then reassembled using two solvent "washed" parts and an "unwashed” part, or "unwashed" legs assembled with entire" washed" body); 3) "washed" females treated with acetone extracts (of virgin females and of legs). Males antennate and mount v…