| Title: | Chemical basis of courtship in a beetle (Neopyrochroa flabellata): cantharidin as precopulatory 'enticing' agent |
| Author(s): | Eisner T; Smedley SR; Young DK; Eisner M; Roach B; Meinwald J; |
| Address: | "Section of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 0027-8424 (Print) 1091-6490 (Electronic) 0027-8424 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | Male Neopyrochroa flabellata have a natural affinity for cantharidin (Spanish fly). They are attracted to cantharidin baits in the field and feed on the compound if it is offered to them in the laboratory. Males that ingest cantharidin secrete cantharidin from a cephalic gland. Females sample secretion from this gland during courtship and mate preferentially with males that had fed on cantharidin. Cantharidin-unfed males can be rendered acceptable to females if cantharidin is added to their cephalic gland |
| Keywords: | "Animals Cantharidin/*metabolism Coleoptera/*physiology Copulation Female Male Sex Attractants/*physiology *Sexual Behavior, Animal;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineEisner, T Smedley, S R Young, D K Eisner, M Roach, B Meinwald, J eng AI02908/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. 1996/06/25 Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Jun 25; 93(13):6494-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.93.13.6494" |
