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Effect of mating on sex attraction in B actericera cockerelli with evidence of refractoriness
Author(s) -
Guédot Christelle,
Horton David R.,
Landolt Peter J.,
Munyaneza Joseph E.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1111/eea.12104
Subject(s) - spermatophore , mating , biology , refractory period , attractiveness , zoology , attraction , medicine , psychology , psychoanalysis , linguistics , philosophy
We investigated the effect of mating on female attractiveness and male responsiveness in the potato psyllid, B actericera (= P aratrioza ) cockerelli ( Š ulc) ( H emiptera: T riozidae), a major pest of potato. Assays were designed to examine response by mated or virgin males to volatile odors produced by virgin or mated females. Mating induced a behavioral refractory period during which males were not attracted to females. The refractory period was shown to include a mating‐induced lowering of male response to females, as well as a mating‐induced lowering of female attractiveness. The refractory period was longer in females (at least 48 h) than in males (less than 24 h). Following a post‐copulatory refractory period of 96 h, females were as attractive to males as virgin females. We also explored how rapidly spermatophores became depleted in females as a function of the amount of time following mating. The percent of females carrying spermatophores and the number of spermatophores per female decreased with the length of the female post‐mating period, possibly due to the absorption by females of the spermatophores and their content. By 96 h following mating, spermatophores were not visible in the majority of females, thus the absence of spermatophores in females of this species should not be used as evidence of mating status.