Abstract
The sexual behavior of males and females ofEurycotis floridana was investigated and the various associated behavioral sequences are described. Olfactometer data proved that the male produces a volatile sex pheromone attractive at a distance to conspecific females. The male initiates courtship behavior by exposing the glandular areas on the anterior parts of abdominal tergites 2, 7, and 8. This male calling behavior was observed throughout the day. The males can mate when 8 days old, whereas virgin females are sexually receptive 18 days after becoming adults. Once attracted near the male, the female opens her genital atrium and climbs on the back of the male, where she feeds on the glandular secretions that oozed around a little tuft of setae on the first tergite. These setae are mechanoreceptors and they are stimulated when licked by the females, which informs the male that she is in a proper position for copulation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abed, D. (1992).Comportement sexuel et phéromones sexuelles chez les blattes: Etude comparative des Blattoidea et des Blaberoidea, Thèse de Doctorat, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France.
Abed, D., Brossut, R., and Farine, J. P. (1993a). Evidence for sex pheromones produced by males and females inBlatta orientalis (Dictyoptera, Blattidae).J. Chem. Ecol. 19: 2831–2853.
Abed, D., Tokro, P., Farine, J. P., and Brossut, R. (1993b). Pheromones inBlattella germanica andBlaberus craniifer (Blaberoidea): Glandular source, morphology and analyses of pheromonally released behaviours.Chemoecology 4: 46–54.
Abed, D., Cheviet, P., Farine, J. P., Bonnard, O., Le Quéré, J. L., and Brossut, R. (1993c). Calling behaviour of femalePeriplaneta americana: Behavioural analysis and identification of the pheromone source.J. Insect Physiol. 39: 709–720.
Barth, R. H. (1968a). The mating behavior ofEurycotis floridana (Blattaria, Blattoidea, Blattidae, Polyzosteriinae).Psyche 75: 274–284.
Barth, R. H. (1968b). The comparative physiology of reproductive processes in cockroaches. I. mating behaviour and its endocrine control.Adv. Reprod. Physiol. 3: 167–207.
Barth, R. H. (1970). The mating behavior ofPeriplaneta americana andBlatta orientalis, with notes on three additional species ofPeriplaneta and interspecific action of female sex pheromones.Z. Tierpsychol. 27: 722–748.
Bell, W. J., Gorton, R. E., Tourtellot, M. K., and Breed, M. D. (1979). Comparison of male agonistic behavior in five species of cockroaches.Insectes Soc. 26: 252–263.
Brenner, R. J., and Pierce, R. R. (1991). Seasonality of peridomestic cockroaches (Blattoidea, Blattidae): Mobility, winter reduction, and effects of traps and baits.J. Econ. Entomol. 84: 1735–1745.
Brossut, R., and Roth, L. M. (1977). Tergal modifications associated with abdominal glandular cells in the Blattaria.J. Morphol. 151: 259–298.
Brossut, R., Dubois, P., Rigaud, J., and Sreng, L. (1975). Etude biochimique de la sécrétion des glandes tergales des Blattaria.Insect Biochem. 5: 719–732.
David-Henriet, A. I., Quennedey, B., and Brossut, R. (1994). Glandes exocrines abdominales mâles intervenant dans le comportement sexuel d'Eurycotis floridana.Bull. Soc. Entomol. Fr. 99: 107–115.
Farine, J. P., Le Quéré, J. L., Duffy, J., Sémon, E., and Brossut, R. (1993). 4-Hydroxy-5-methyl-3(2H)-furanone and 4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furanone, two components of the male sex pheromone ofEurycotis floridana (Insecta, Blattidae, Polyzosteriinae).Biosci. Biotech. Biochem. 57: 2026–2030.
Farine, J. P., Le Quéré, J. L., Duffy, J., Everaerts, Cl., and Brossut, R. (1994). The male sex pheromone of the cockroachEurycotis floridana (Blattidae, Polyzosteriinae): Role and composition of tergites 2 and 8 secretions.J. Chem. Ecol. 20: 2291–2306.
Goudey-Perrière, F. (1987).Socialité sexualité et reproduction chez Blabera craniifer (Dictyoptera, Blaberiade), Thèse ès Sciences, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France.
Hales, R. A., and Breed, M. D. (1983). Female calling and reproductive behavior in the brownbanded cockroach,Supella longipalpa.Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 76: 239–241.
Hawkins, W. A., and Rust, M. K. (1977). Factors inflencing male sexual response in the American cockroach,Periplaneta americana.J. Chem. Ecol. 3: 85–99.
Liang, D., and Schal, C. (1993a). Volatile sex pheromone in the female German cockroach.Experientia 49: 324–328.
Liang, D., and Schal, C. (1993b). Ultrastructure and maturation of a sex pheromone gland in the female German cockroach,Blattela germanica.Tissue Cell 25: 763–776.
Liang, D., and Schal, C. (1993c). Calling behavior of the female German cockroach,Blattella germanica (Dictyoptera, Blattellidae).J. Insect Behav. 6: 603–614.
Moore, J. K., and Barth, R. H. (1976). Studies on the site of sex pheromone production in the cockroach,Byrsotria fumigata.Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 69: 911–916.
Roth, L. M. (1968). Reproduction of some poorly known species of Blattaria.Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 61: 571–579.
Roth, L. M. (1969). The evolution of male tergal glands in the Blattaria.Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 62: 176–208.
Roth, L. M., and Hartman, H. B. (1967). Sound production and its evolutionary significance in the Blattaria,Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 60: 740–752.
Roth, L. M., and Willis, E. R. (1952). A study of cockroach behaviour.Am. Midl. Nat. 47: 66–129.
Roth, L. M., and Willis, E. R. (1954). The reproduction of cockroaches.Smithson. Misc. Coll. 122: 1–49.
Schal, C. (1982). Intraspecific vertical stratification as a mate-finding mechanism in tropical cockroaches.Science 215: 1405–1407.
Schal, C., and Bell, W. J. (1985). Calling behavior in female cockroaches.J. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 58: 261–268.
Schal, C., Liang, D., Hazarika, L. K., Charlton, R. E., and Roelofs, W. L. (1992). Site of pheromone production in femaleSupella longipalpa (Blattidae): Behavioral, electrophysiological, and morphological evidence.Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 85: 605–611.
Seelinger, G. (1984). Sex-specific activity patterns inPeriplaneta americana and their relation to mate-finding.Z. Tierpsychol. 65: 309–326.
Seelinger, G. (1985). Behavioural responses to female sex pheromone components inPeriplaneta americana.Anim. Behav. 33: 591–598.
Simon, D., and Barth, R. (1977a). Sexual behavior in the cockroach generaPeriplaneta andBlatta. I. Description aspect.Z. Tierpsychol. 44: 80–107.
Simon, D., and Barth, R. (1977b). Sexual behavior in the cockroach generaPeriplaneta andBlatta. II. Sex pheromone and behavioral responses.Z. Tierpsychol. 44: 162–177.
Sirugue, D. (1992).Comportement sexuel et hiérarchique chez Leucophea maderaeet Nauphoeta cinerea (Dictyoptera, Blaberidae). Thèse de Doctorat, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France.
Sirugue, D., Bonnard, O., Le Quéré, J. L., Farine, J. P., and Brossut, R. (1992). 2-Methylthiazolidine and 4-ethylguaiacol, male sex pheromone components of the cockroachNauphoeta cinerea: A reinvestigation.J. Chem. Ecol. 18: 2261–2276.
Smith, A. F., and Schal, C. (1991). Circadian calling behavior of the adult female brown-banded cockroach,Supella longipalpa (Blattellidae).J. Insect Behav. 4: 1–14.
Sreng, L. (1979). Phéromone et comportement sexuel chezNauphoeta cinerea (Insecte, Dicytoptère).C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris 289: 687–690.
Sreng, L. (1984). Morphology of the sternal and tergal glands producing the sexual pheromones and the aphrodisiacs among the cockroaches of the subfamily Oxyhaloinae.J. Morphol. 182: 279–294.
Sreng, L. (1990). Seducin, male sex pheromone of the cockroachNauphoeta cinerea: Isolation, identification and bioassay.J. Chem. Ecol. 16: 2899–2912.
Takegawa, H., and Takahashi, S. (1989). Sex pheromone of the Japanese cockroach,Periplaneta japonica (Dictyoptera, Blattidae).Appl. Entomol. Zool. 24: 435–440.
Tokro, P. G., Brossut, R., and Sreng, L. (1993). Mise en évidence de la phéromone sexuelle chez les femelles deBlattella germanica.Insect Sci. Appl. 14: 115–126.
Vaillant, J., and Derridj, S. (1992). Statistical analysis of insect preference in two-choice experiments.J. Insect Behav. 5: 773–781.
Wendelken, P., and Barth, R. H. (1971). The mating behavior ofParcoblatta fuvescens (Blattaria, Blattellidae, Blattellinae).Psyche 4: 319–329.
Willis, E. R. (1970). Mating behavior of three cockroaches (Latiblattella) from Honduras.Biotropica 2: 120–128.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Farine, J.P., Everaerts, C., Abed, D. et al. Pheromonal emission during the mating behavior ofEurycotis floridana (Walker) (Dictyoptera: Blattidae). J Insect Behav 9, 197–213 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02213865
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02213865