Search results for "Pheromones"
showing 10 items of 106 documents
Defensive secretion of Therea petiveriana: chemical identification and evidence of an alarm function
2002
0098-0331 (Print) Journal Article; The volatile constituents of the supposed defensive secretions of the glandular pouches of the adults of both sexes of the cockroach Therea petiveriana have been shown to contain N-3-methylbutylacetamide (MBA) and N-3-methylbutylpropanamide (MBP), which represented 60% of the volatile fraction. The other 40% included acidic, aromatic, and aldehydic compounds. Behavioral experiments demonstrated that the secretion acts as an alarm pheromone for adults.
Cuticular hydrocarbons of Drosophila montana: geographic variation, sexual dimorphism and potential roles as pheromones.
2014
Abstract Sexual selection within populations can play an important role in speciation when divergence in mating signals and their corresponding preferences occur along different coevolutionary trajectories in different populations. In insects, one potential target of sexual selection is the blend of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs), which often show intra- and interspecific variation, sexual dimorphism and may act as pheromones. In Drosophila montana, a cold-adapted, circumboreal member of the Drosophila virilis species group, flies from different populations have been found to show significant premating isolation as well as variation in male mating signal (song) and female preference. While t…
The pheromonal role of cuticular hydrocarbons in Drosophila melanogaster
1997
0265-9247 (Print) Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Review; Pheromones play a crucial role in mate stimulation and discrimination. In the fruit fly Drosophila, the most abundant cuticular hydrocarbons act as sex pheromones during courtship behavior. There are several active molecules and they compose a sex- and species-specific pheromonal bouquet. Different species from the Drosophila melanogaster subgroup have adopted alternative systems of chemical mate recognition. Recent exploration of these interspecific variations, and of intraspecific variations, has led to the characterization of genes and to the mapping of structures that process the production and perception of chem…
Cuticular hydrocarbons: their evolution and roles in Drosophila pheromonal communication
2005
0001-8244 (Print) Journal Article Review; I review the recent literature on cuticular hydrocarbons (CHs) in Drosophila. First, the major structural features of CHs are examined in a variety of species with regard to phylogeny. The genetic bases of the CH variation between and within species have been investigated with some of the genes involved characterized and manipulated. The effect of non-genetic factors as temperature, food and development is also examined with regard to CH production. Using a model involving the stimulating or the inhibiting role of CHs, it is possible to speculate on the mechanisms of CH perception and on the role(s) that these substances could play on sexual isolati…
Production, regeneration and biochemical precursors of the major components of the defensive secretion of Eurycotis floridana (Dictyoptera, polyzoste…
2000
0965-1748 (Print) Journal Article; The defensive secretion of the cockroach Eurycotis floridana contains three main components, (E)-2-hexenal, (E)-2-hexenol and (E)-2-hexenoic acid, which represented about 98% of the organic phase. The quantity of the aldehyde, alcohol, and acid present in the defensive secretion increased rapidly for 60 days from the imaginal moult. Following artificial discharge, the males were able to regenerate their initial volume of secretion over a 30 day period. To investigate the possible routes of biosynthesis of the three components, E. floridana was injected with 14C-labeled fatty acids and acetate, and the incorporation of 14C into the three components were qua…
Revisited Roles of Drosophila Female Pheromones
2005
All tests involved a pair of 5-day-old male and female (intact or decapitated) flies. Females were ‘homotypic’ (same species and strain as the tested male: D. melanogaster, Cs strain; D. mauritiana, 163.1 strain; D. simulans, Seychelles strain), ‘desat1 non-perfumed’ (D. melanogaster desat1 mutant), ‘perfumed’ (desat1 with transfer of Cs females pheromones), or ‘Cs’ (D. melanogaster control strain). Data shown are the frequencies of courtship (with both intact and decapitated females) and of mating (with intact females), within a 1 h observation period and were calculated from the total number of tested pairs (shown in brackets). D. mauritiana males courted (χ2 = 16.81, P < 0.001) and mated…
Genetic elimination of known pheromones reveals the fundamental chemical bases of mating and isolation in Drosophila
1999
Overexpression of the UAS-tra transgene in Drosophila melanogaster females led to the complete elimination of their cuticular pheromones. According to current models of Drosophila behavior, these flies should induce no courtship. In fact, they are still attractive to conspecific males. Three classes of stimuli are shown to induce courtship, with different effects on male behavior: ( i ) known pheromones produced by control females, ( ii ) stimuli produced by living control and transgenic flies, and ( iii ) as-yet-undetermined pheromones present on both control and transgenic flies. Only the latter class of pheromones are required for mating. They appear to represent a layer of ancestral at…
The role of cuticular pheromones in courtship conditioning of Drosophila males
2005
1072-0502 (Print) Comparative Study Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.; Courtship conditioning is an associative learning paradigm in Drosophila melanogaster, wherein male courtship behavior is modified by experience with unreceptive, previously mated females. While the training experience with mated females involves multiple sensory and behavioral interactions, we hypothesized that female cuticular hydrocarbons function as a specific chemosensory conditioned stimulus in this learning paradigm. The effects of training with mated females were determined in courtship tests with either wild-type virgin females as courtship targets, or with…
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…
The role of juvenile hormone in immune function and pheromone production trade-offs: a test of the immunocompetence handicap principle
2003
The immunocompetence handicap hypothesis postulates that secondary sexual traits are honest signals of mate quality because the hormones (e.g. testosterone) needed to develop secondary sexual traits have immunosuppressive effects. The best support for predictions arising from the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis so far comes from studies of insects, although they lack male-specific hormones such as testosterone. In our previous studies, we found that female mealworm beetles prefer pheromones of immunocompetent males. Here, we tested how juvenile hormone (JH) affects male investment in secondary sexual characteristics and immune functions in the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor. We inje…