| Title: | Social environment determines degree of chemical signalling |
| Author(s): | Steiger S; Haberer W; Muller JK; |
| Address: | "Department of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany. ssteige@ilstu.edu" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1744-957X (Electronic) 1744-9561 (Print) 1744-9561 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Few studies have attempted to distinguish between cues and signals in the context of chemical communication. A number of chemical substances have been shown to vary with physiological state, such as stage of oestrus cycle, fertility, dominance status or nutritional condition, but little is known about whether this variation is incidental or adaptive. Here, we provide evidence of a substance whose emission varies with breeding state, but is not merely an incidental by-product of physiological state, but rather, an evolved signal. Breeding females of the facultative biparental burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides, release methyl geranate, a substance that helps males to identify breeding status and to distinguish between their female partners and non-breeding intruders. We demonstrate that females respond flexibly to their social environment and emit high amounts of methyl geranate only in the presence of a male partner, i.e. a receiver. In contrast, cuticular hydrocarbons, which also have been shown to change with breeding status, are not modulated and do not differ between single and paired breeding females. Receiver-dependent chemical signalling is expected to evolve when costs are involved in the production or transmission of the signal; such signal modulation might be more common than previously thought" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Coleoptera/*chemistry/physiology Female Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Germany Hydrocarbons/*chemistry Male Pheromones/*chemistry Reproduction *Sexual Behavior, Animal;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineSteiger, Sandra Haberer, Wolf Muller, Josef K eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2011/06/10 Biol Lett. 2011 Dec 23; 7(6):822-4. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.0457. Epub 2011 Jun 8" |
