Search results for "pheromone"
showing 10 items of 256 documents
Attracted or repelled?--a matter of two neurons, one pheromone binding protein, and a chiral center.
1998
Abstract Two species of scarab beetles, the Osaka beetle (Anomala osakana) and the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica), utilize the opposite enantiomers of japonilure, (Z)-5-(1-decenyl)oxacyclopentan-2-one, as their sex pheromones. Each species produces only one of the enantiomers that functions as its own sex pheromone and as a very strong behavioral antagonist for the other species. Using an integrated approach we tested whether the discrimination of these two opposite signals is due to selective filtering by pheromone binding proteins or whether it originates in the specificity of ligand–receptor interactions. We found that the antennae of each of these two scarab species contain only a …
Could male tergal secretions be considered as a nuptial gift in the Madeira cockroach?
2008
International audience; Many male insects provide somatic nuptial gifts that may strongly influence reproductive fitness, ensuring effective copulation or mediating paternal resource benefits in offspring. Although the courtship feeding behaviour on tergal gland secretions has been described in numerous cockroaches, studies on the function of these so-called nuptial gifts are lacking in this group. In this study, we examined, in the Madeira cockroach, Leucophaea maderae, the functional significance of tergal secretions by manipulating their availability on the back of males. We tested whether male tergal secretions function as a form of mating effort, and/or as a form of paternal investment…
Learning can be detrimental for a parasitic wasp
2021
Animals have evolved the capacity to learn, and the conventional view is that learning allows individuals to improve foraging decisions. The parasitoid Telenomus podisi has been shown to parasitize eggs of the exotic stink bug Halyomorpha halys at the same rate as eggs of its coevolved host, Podisus maculiventris, but the parasitoid cannot complete its development in the exotic species. We hypothesized that T. podisi learns to exploit cues from this non-coevolved species, thereby increasing unsuccessful parasitism rates. We conducted bioassays to compare the responses of naïve vs. experienced parasitoids on chemical footprints left by one of the two host species. Both naïve and experienced …
ChemInform Abstract: o-Nitroaryldioxolanes for Protection of Pheromones. Study of the Photodelivery of Carbonyl Compounds.
2010
o-Nitrophenyldioxolanes 1 to 12 have been prepared and the rate of their photocleavage determined. Steric congestion in the molecule causes a decrease of the reaction rate. The decrease in the rate...
Regulation of mating in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae by the zinc cluster proteins Sut1 and Sut2
2013
This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. Copyright @ The Authors. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The zinc cluster proteins Sut1 and Sut2 play a role in sterol uptake and filamentous growth in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this study, we show that they are also involved in mating. Cells that lack both SUT1 and SUT2 were defective in mating. The expression of the genes NCE102 and PRR2 was increased in the sut1 sut2 double deletion mutant…
World-wide variation in Drosophila melanogaster sex pheromone: behavioural effects, genetic bases and potential evolutionary consequences
1996
0016-6707 (Print) Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; In Drosophila melanogaster, male wing vibration, a key element of courtship behaviour, is most efficiently induced by a female-specific contact pheromone cis, cis 7,11 heptacosadiene (7,11 HD), which is the main mature female cuticular hydrocarbon in the CS laboratory strain. A study of 63 strains from around the world revealed that flies from Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean are unique in showing low levels 7,11 HD and high levels of the position isomer 5,9 HD. This difference maps to chromosome III, perhaps indicating a simple genetic control of the 7,11 HD:5,9 HD ratio. Females from strains with high levels of 7,11 H…
Structure of rat odorant-binding protein OBP1 at 1.6 angstrom resolution
2009
The nasal mucosa is a specialist interfacial region sandwiched between the olfactory system and the gaseous chemical milieu. In mammals and insects, this region is rich in odorant-binding proteins that are thought to aid olfaction by assisting mass transfer of the many different organoleptic compounds that make up the olfactory landscape. However, in mammals at least, our grasp on the exact function of odorant-binding proteins is tentative and better insight into the role of these proteins is warranted, not least because of their apparent significance in the olfactory systems of insects. Here, the crystal structure of rat odorant-binding protein 1 is reported at 1.6 Å resolution. This prote…
Indagini sulla presenza di Prays oleae in oliveti a conduzione biologica della Sicilia occidentale
2011
Investigations on presence of Prays oleae in organic olive orchards of western Sicily. This paper reports a study on the population dynamics of the olive moth, Prays oleae (Bern) (Lep., Plutellidae) in four organic olive orchards in western Sicily (Italy), from 2007 to 2010. The influence of the phytophagous on the fruit drop was detected. Also, the efficacy of treatments with Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki on damage reduction was evaluated. Flight trend was monitored using delta-wing traps (3/ha) containing the sexual pheromone ((Z)-7-tetradecenal), placed in each olive orchard. Traps were hung in the inner zone of the canopy to a height of 1.50 m, and checked weekly from May to 2-3 …
Insect oviposition induces volatile emission in herbaceous plants that attracts egg parasitoid
2003
SUMMARYThe egg parasitoid Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston) (Hymenoptera:Scelionidae) responded to synomones emitted by leguminous plants induced by feeding and oviposition activity of the bug Nezara viridula (L.)(Heteroptera: Pentatomidae). This was shown by laboratory bioassays using a Y-tube olfactometer. Broad bean leaves (Vicia faba L.) damaged by feeding activity of N. viridula and on which host egg mass had been laid produced synomones that attracted T. basalis. By contrast,undamaged leaves or feeding-damaged leaves without eggs did not attract wasp females. French bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) also emitted attractive synomones when they were damaged by host feeding and carrying e…
Private information alone can trigger trapping of ant colonies in local feeding optima.
2015
Ant colonies are famous for using trail pheromones to make collective decisions. Trail pheromone systems are characterised by positive feedback, which results in rapid collective decision making. However, in an iconic experiment, ants were shown to become 'trapped' in exploiting a poor food source, if it was discovered earlier. This has conventionally been explained by the established pheromone trail becoming too strong for new trails to compete. However, many social insects have a well-developed memory, and private information often overrules conflicting social information. Thus, route memory could also explain this collective 'trapping' effect. Here, we disentangled the effects of social …