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Individual Pheromone Signature in Males: Prerequisite for Pheromone-Mediated Mate Assessment in the Central American Locust, Schistocerca Piceifrons

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Abstract

Living in high-density groups of animals has advantages and disadvantages for mating. The advantage of facilitated mate finding is compromised by difficulties in protecting a suitable partner from competitors. Thus, males regularly are faced with increased competition for sperm, and females with harassment by males at high population densities. To cope with these problems, mating tactics and mate choice mechanisms have to be adjusted. An adaptation to gregarious condition observed in locusts includes the use of male-emitted pheromones. Males of the Central American locust, Schistocerca piceifrons, release sex-specific volatiles, which were identified as phenethyl alcohol (synonym: phenyl-ethyl-alcohol, 2-phenyl-1-ethanol, 2-phenylethanol, PEA), (Z)-3-nonen-1-ol (3-Nol), and (Z)-2-octen-1-ol (2-Ool). The emission of the two major compounds, PEA and 3-Nol, was restricted to crowded conditions. Furthermore, the release of both volatiles was coupled to males reaching sexual maturity, indicating a function in reproductive behavior. However, neither the single substances nor their mixtures were attractive or repellent to the locusts. Instead, females prefer the sperm of high pheromone-emitting males to fertilize their ova. In this way, the male-specific volatiles act as mate assessment pheromones utilized in a context of cryptic female choice. This function is well supported by the highly variable but individual-specific emission rates of the three compounds. Schistocerca piceifrons males release a virtually unique personal pheromone signature, a prerequisite for mate assessment pheromones.

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Acknowledgement

We are grateful to M. Poot Pech for collecting the locusts and providing us with useful background information, and to P. Lindemann (Dep. Pharmac. Biotech., Univ. Halle) for performing the sterioisomeric analysis. For technical assistance and maintenance of the locust culture we thank S. Hertel.

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  1. Christiane Stahr

    Present address: , Holbeinstrasse 10, D-06118 Halle, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Physiology, Institute of Biology/Zoology, Martin-Luther-University, Hoher Weg 8, D-06120, Halle, Germany

    Christiane Stahr & Karsten Seidelmann

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  1. Christiane Stahr
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  2. Karsten Seidelmann
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Correspondence to Christiane Stahr.

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Stahr, C., Seidelmann, K. Individual Pheromone Signature in Males: Prerequisite for Pheromone-Mediated Mate Assessment in the Central American Locust, Schistocerca Piceifrons . J Chem Ecol 42, 1304–1313 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-016-0793-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-016-0793-9

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