Search results for "Pheromone"
showing 6 items of 256 documents
Odorant-odorant metabolic competitions: ex vivo inhibition of the mammary pheromone catabolism
2016
International audience
Degradation of an alkaloid pheromone from the pale-brown chafer, Phyllopertha diversa (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), by an insect olfactory cytochrome P…
1999
AbstractThe pale-brown chafer, Phyllopertha diversa, utilizes an unusual alkaloid, 1,3-dimethyl-2,4-(1H,3H)-quinazolinedione, as its sex pheromone. This compound is rapidly degraded in vitro by the antennal protein extracts from this scarab beetle. Demethylation at the N-1 position and hydroxylation of the aromatic ring have been identified as the major catabolic pathways. The enzyme responsible for the pheromone degradation is membrane-bound, requires NAD(P)H for activity and is sensitive to cytochrome P450 inhibitors, such as proadifen and metyrapone. The ability to metabolize this unusual pheromone was not detected in 12 species tested, indicating that the P450 system, specific to male P…
The reactivity of neonatal rabbits to the mammary pheromone as a probe for viability
2012
International audience; Newborn rabbits depend on a daily nursing interaction with the mother to gain milk and to survive. During this interaction, they localise and seize the nipples displaying a typical behaviour triggered by maternal odour cues. The mammary pheromone constitutes such a signal in domestic rabbits: it elicits sucking-related movements in more than 90% of the pups. However, some newborns remain unresponsive to the presentation of the pheromone, even pups apparently healthy and highly motivated to suck. The main goal of the present study was therefore to explore the link between the unresponsiveness of rabbit pups to the mammary pheromone and their growth and survival in bre…
Measuring, comparing and interpreting phenotypic selection on floral scent
2022
Natural selection on floral scent composition is a key element of the hypothesis that pollinators and other floral visitors drive scent evolution. The measure of such selection is complicated by the high-dimensional nature of floral scent data and uncertainty about the cognitive processes involved in scent-mediated communication. We use dimension reduction through reduced-rank regression to jointly estimate a scent composite trait under selection and the strength of selection acting on this trait. To assess and compare variation in selection on scent across species, time and space, we reanalyse 22 datasets on six species from four previous studies. The results agreed qualitatively with prev…
Host Searching by Egg Parasitoids: Exploitation of Host Chemical Cues
2010
Insect parasitoids are considered “keystone species” in many ecosystems in terms of biodiversity, ecological impact and economic importance (Vinson 1985, LaSalle and Gauld 1993, Hawkins et al. 1999). In the last decades, several reviews have been published on the relationships among plants, hosts and parasitoids, which reflect a strong interest in these insects both as models for behavioral ecologists and as important organisms for classical and applied biological control programs (Hawkins et al. 1999, Vet 1999, Bale et al. 2008). The majority of these studies have considered the larval parasitoid s, besides the extensive use of egg parasitoids in biological control (Hawkins et al. 1999). I…
An aposematic colour‐polymorphic moth seen through the eyes of conspecifics and predators – Sensitivity and colour discrimination in a tiger moth
2018
Although predation is commonly thought to exert the strongest selective pressure on coloration in aposematic species, sexual selection may also influence coloration. Specifically, polymorphism in aposematic species cannot be explained by natural selection alone. Males of the aposematic wood tiger moth (Arctia plantaginis) are polymorphic for hindwing coloration throughout most of their range. In Scandinavia, they display either white or yellow hindwings. Female hindwing coloration varies continuously from bright orange to red. Redder females and yellow males suffer least from bird predation. White males often have higher mating success than yellow males. Therefore, we ask whether females ca…