Plethodontid salamanders have served as an informative vertebrate system for studying the role of chemical signals in facilitating social and reproductive behaviors. Individuals produce complex mixtures of chemicals from multiple glandular regions. In total, these secretions convey a wide variety of information, and are important for numerous inter- and intraspecific...
The importance of pheromones in insect control relies both on
their ability to reduce pest populations and on their relatively benign
effects on nontarget organisms. This study was conducted to test the
effectiveness of a pheromone application for mating disruption of the
ponderosa pine tip moth, Rhyacionia zozana (Kearfott), and...
Honey bees mark artificial flowers with scents that
advertise about the previous history of the flower to
subsequent foragers. Unrewarding flowers are marked with a
scent, after a single visit, that makes the flower less
attractive to subsequent foragers. Previously rewarding
flowers are initially less attractive than unvisited
flowers but...
E8,E10-dodecadien-1-ol, the primary component of the female sex pheromone of codling moth, Cydia pomonella L., has no attraction to male Oriental fruit moth (OFM), C. molesta (Busck). However, this compound when added to the OFM pheromone blend of Z8-dodecenyl acetate (85.5%), E8-dodecenyl acetate (5.5%), and Z8- dodecen -1 -ol (9.0%),...
In animals, reproductive behaviors serve to attract individuals together during the
breeding season and to coordinate the behavioral and physiological states of individuals
so that mating can successfully occur. In snakes, the various reproductive behaviors
including courtship, mating, courtship inhibition, male combat and trailing are mediated
primarily by pheromones. Pheromones...
Pheromones are chemical cues produced by organisms that affect the behavior and/or physiology of conspecifics. The orchestration of reproductive behaviors in many animals depends on the expression of sex pheromones. In insects, intraspecific variation in sex pheromone expression is commonly observed and often influences social interactions between individuals. To what...
My dissertation focuses on the evolutionary forces that have shaped the chemical signaling system of plethodontid salamanders. Pheromones mediate two phases of plethodontid reproduction: mate attraction prior to courtship and female persuasion during courtship. Substrate-borne chemical signals are believed to play an important role in mate attraction for these animals....