Factors which influence female crickets' ( Acheta domesticus ) phonotactic and sexual responsiveness to males

. Removal of the corpora allata from sexually responsive Acheta domesticus females exhibiting direct, positive phonotaxis resulted in a decline of the directionality of phonotaxis and sexual responsiveness to males for the 3‐day testing period. Phonotaxis and sexual responsiveness were restored to the level before allatectomy after topical treatment with JH III. Sexually and phonotactically responsive females, given Precocene I or II showed no change in phonotactic orientation or sexual responsiveness. Females were isolated from males just prior to the imaginal moult. After 3 weeks of isolation (1 2.5 weeks following the imaginal moult) they showed significantly better phonotaxis to the calling song than did females that had been fully exposed to males, or those which had only olfactory exposure to males. There were no significant differences among the groups in their copulatory readiness when placed directly in contact with males. Mating caused a reduction in the phonotaxis of females. Females on the day of imaginal moult responded negatively to the calling song. This negative response disappeared on the day following the imaginal moult and did not re‐appear in older females. Topical application of JH III or the synthetic analogue, ZR 515 caused females to become phonotactically positive in response to the calling song on the day of, or the day following the imaginal moult.