HEGDEKAR, B. M. DONDAL DALE, C. D. 1969. A contact sex pheromone and some response .parameters in lycosid spiders. Can. J. Zool. 47: 1 4 .The sexual response of male Schizocma c r~~i p a b i 9 (Emerton), S. avido (Watckenaer), Purriosa moesto Ba&s,and P. srrvarilis (Hen-) to filter paper discs previously exposed to females was studied in the laboratory. Evidence ~ndicates that the females secrete a nonvolat~le substance which the males recelve through contact chemoreception and which excites them sexually. Attempts ro demonstrate an alfactory cue in the sexual response wcre unsuccessrul. The substance was found to be spccies spec~lic except in S. crassipulpis. It was produced by adul r females regardless of age or rnat~ng history. Male r response was similarly not affected. The substance was active fur about 4 weeks. It was labtle to treatment with ether or benzene and could not bc extracted with either solvent. The sites of its secretion and t perception have not k e n ascertained.

Laboratory bioassays of male courtship behavior in Pardosa lapidicina indicate that the contact sex pheromone is associated with the silk dragline deposited on the substratum by mature females. The pheromone is quickly inactivated by water. It appears to represent a facultative sexual stimulus, and can be by-passed if the male first touches the female.

A chemically defined, synthetic medium that induces oviposition in the parasite Itoplectis conquisitor (Say) has been developed. The medium contains serine (0.5 M), arginine (0.05 M), leucine (0.065 M), and magnesium chloride (0.025 M); and it is more effective than host haemolymph in inducing oviposition. This completely artificial oviposition stimulant was developed to facilitate the mass rearing of the parasite on an artificial diet.

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