Search results for " attractant"
showing 10 items of 44 documents
Refining the dual olfactory hypothesis: Pheromone reward and odour experience
2009
In rodents, sexual advertisement and gender recognition are mostly (if not exclusively) mediated by chemosignals. Specifically, there is ample evidence indicating that female mice are ‘innately’ attracted by male sexual pheromones that have critical non-volatile components and are detected by the vomeronasal organ. These pheromones can only get access to the vomeronasal organ by active pumping mechanisms that require close contact with the source of the stimulus (e.g. urine marks) during chemoinvestigation. We have hypothesised that male sexual pheromones are rewarding to female mice. Indeed, male-soiled bedding can be used as a reinforcer to induce conditioned place preference, provided co…
An inhibitory sex pheromone tastes bitter for Drosophila males
2007
1932-6203 (Electronic) Journal Article; Sexual behavior requires animals to distinguish between the sexes and to respond appropriately to each of them. In Drosophila melanogaster, as in many insects, cuticular hydrocarbons are thought to be involved in sex recognition and in mating behavior, but there is no direct neuronal evidence of their pheromonal effect. Using behavioral and electrophysiological measures of responses to natural and synthetic compounds, we show that Z-7-tricosene, a Drosophila male cuticular hydrocarbon, acts as a sex pheromone and inhibits male-male courtship. These data provide the first direct demonstration that an insect cuticular hydrocarbon is detected as a sex ph…
Female-released sex pheromones mediating courtship behavior in Lysiphlebus testaceipes males.
2013
Ethological aspects and chemical communication at close-range between the sexes of Lysiphlebus testaceipes Cresson (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) have been investigated through behavioral bioassays and chemical analysis. The attractiveness toward males of whole-body extracts of females and males in hexane and acetone was evaluated, adopting male fanning behavior as a key behavioral component. Also, the activity of polar and nonpolar fraction of female-body extract in hexane obtained using solid-phase extraction technique was investigated. In order to identify cuticular compounds, male and female whole-body extracts with hexane and acetone were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Th…
Role of nitric oxide in pheromone-mediated intraspecific communication in mice
2009
Nitric oxide is known to take part in the control of sexual and agonistic behaviours. This is usually attributed to its role in neural transmission in the hypothalamus and other structures of the limbic system. However, socio-sexual behaviours in rodents are mainly directed by chemical signals detected by the vomeronasal system, and nitric oxide is abundant in key structures along the vomeronasal pathway. Thus, here we check whether pharmacological treatments interfering with nitrergic transmission could affect socio-sexual behaviour by impairing the processing of chemical signals. Treatment with an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthesis (Nomega-Nitro-l-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride, L-N…
Focal Lesions within the ventral striato-pallidum abolish attraction for male chemosignals in female mice
2014
In rodents, socio-sexual behaviour is largely mediated by chemosensory cues, some of which are rewarding stimuli. Female mice display an innate attraction towards male chemosignals, dependent on the vomeronasal system. This behaviour likely reflects the hedonic value of sexual chemosignals. The anteromedial aspect of the olfactory tubercle, along with its associated islands of Calleja, receives vomeronasal inputs and sexually-dimorphic vasopressinergic innervation. Thus, we hypothesised that this portion of the ventral striato-pallidum, known to be involved in reward processing, might be important for sexual odorant-guided behaviours. In this study, we demonstrate that lesions of this regio…
Sexual pheromones and the evolution of the reward system of the brain: the chemosensory function of the amygdala.
2008
The amygdala of all tetrapod vertebrates receives direct projections from the main and accessory olfactory bulbs, and the strong similarities in the organization of these projections suggest that they have undergone a very conservative evolution. However, current ideas about the function of the amygdala do not pay sufficient attention to its chemosensory role, but only view it as the core of the emotional brain. In this study, we propose that both roles of the amygdala are intimately linked since the amygdala is actually involved in mediating emotional responses to chemical signals. The amygdala is the only structure in the brain receiving pheromonal information directly from the accessory …
Ultrastructure of posterior sternal glands of Macrotermes annandalei (Silvestri): new members of the sexual glandular set found in termites (Insecta).
2004
In female alates of Macrotermes annandalei, two types of abdominal glands are involved in the secretion of sex pheromone. Tergal glands are found at the anterior margin of tergites 6-10 and posterior sternal glands (PSGs) are located at the anterior margin of sternites 6-7. The cytological features of both types of glands are quite similar. The fine structural organization of PSGs is studied more precisely and described for the first time. The glandular cuticle is pitted with narrow apertures corresponding to the openings of numerous subcuticular pouches. Several Class 3 glandular units open in each pouch. One canal cell and one secretory cell make an individual glandular unit. The canal ce…
Effectiveness of mass trapping by bottle traps baited with salt sardines to control Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin)
2007
Various substances are known as attractants of tephritid flies; the putrescine and other compounds coming from animal decay have been positively tested for attraction of Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) and other tephritids. In Sicilian coastal areas, usually heavily infested by Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin), few organic farmers producing high quality olive oil apply mass trapping by using bottle traps baited with salt sardines. The aim of this paper is to test the effectiveness of this kind of mass trapping to control the olive fruit fly. In 2005 and 2006 mass trapping was tested in an organic olive grove (Cerasuola cultivar) located in Trapani. In 2005 two plots were delineated: 189 untreat…
Lesions of the dopaminergic innervation of the nucleus accumbens medial shell delay the generation of preference for sucrose, but not of sexual phero…
2011
Male sexual pheromones are rewarding stimuli for female mice, able to induce conditioned place preference. To test whether processing these natural reinforcing stimuli depends on the dopaminergic innervation of the nucleus accumbens, as for other natural rewards, we compare the effects of specific lesions of the dopaminergic innervation of the medial shell of the nucleus accumbens on two different appetitive behaviours, ‘pheromone seeking’ and sucrose preferential intake. Female mice, with no previous experience with either adult male chemical stimuli or with sucrose, received injections of 6-hydroxydopamine (or vehicle) in the medial shell of the accumbens. Then, we analyzed their preferen…
Sensory adaptation of antennae and sex pheromone-mediated flight behavior in male oriental fruit moths (Leptidoptera: Tortricidae) after prolonged ex…
2013
Sensory adaptation has been measured in the antennae of male Grapholita molesta (Busck) after 15 min of exposure to its main pheromone compound (Z)-8-dodecen-1-yl acetate (Z8-12:OAc) at the aerial concentration of 1 ng/m(3) measured in orchards treated with pheromone for mating disruption. Exposing males to this aerial concentration of Z8-12:OAc for 15 min, however, had only a small effect on their ability to orientate by flight to virgin calling females in a flight tunnel. Experiments were undertaken to determine if exposure to the main pheromone compound in combination with the two biologically active minor compounds of this species, (E)-8-dodecen-1-yl acetate (E8-12:OAc) and (Z)-8-dodece…