Antennae and the role of olfaction and contact stimulation in mate recognition by males of the pollinating fig wasp Ceratosolen gravelyi (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae)

Abstract

Finding a mate is a crucial step in sexual reproduction. The mutualism between figs and their pollinators is exploited by many figwasps that develop within their galls and attain sexual maturity simultaneously. Male pollinators carry the specific burden of detecting and opening mating holes in galls containing conspecific females before mating with them. The mating behaviourand antennal sensilla of male pollinators associated with Ficus semicordata was investigated to understand mate recognition. Male Ceratosolen gravelyi located femalecontaining galls from a distance, but only attempted to chew a mating hole after antennal contact with the gall surface was made. They showed similar responses to females and body extracts but failed to respond to washed female bodies. This behaviour indicates that unidentified chemicals present on the body surfaces of females are sufficient to elicit olfactory attraction and tactile confirmation. Multiporous plate sensilla are candidates for olfactory reception from a distance while basiconic sensilla may be involved in contact chemoreceptor. All of the sensilla are highly localised, on the distal part of the terminal flagellomere, suggesting a response to selection for strong directionality in the complex odour environment of the fig in which messages produced by hundreds of females may confuse precise mate localisation

Courtship, Mating Behavior, and Ovary Histology of the Nymph Parasitoid Psyllaephagus bliteus (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae)

“…The presence of the male competitor results in antennae–antennae fighting in P. bliteus as found for Ceratosolen gravelyi Grandi (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) males with violent combat with biting on their mid or hindleg ( Liu et al 2019 ). Cotesia urabae Austin & Allen (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) males try to interrupt mating by pulling the successful male away from the female ( Avila et al 2016 ).…”

Morphological and genetic differences in legs of a polygamous beetle between sexes, Glenea cantor (Coleopter: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae)

“…The mating behaviour of G. cantor has been studied in detail, and it has been confirmed that the male reacts to the female with his antennae or tarsi [45][46][47][48][49], and the male dashes to the female and mounts her back (Fig 1A). According to the results of this experiment, tarsi play an important role in the process of sex pheromone recognition [50,51].…”

Coordinating Biointeraction and Bioreaction of a Nanocarrier Material and an Anticancer Drug to Overcome Membrane Rigidity and Target Mitochondria in Multidrug‐Resistant Cancer Cells

“…[2b,9b] Such lipid rafts in MDR cell membrane are insoluble in commonly used membrane detergents; thus application of the detergents does not improve cellular nanoparticle uptake. [9a,11] Although the biophysical properties of lipid rafts in MDR cell membranes have been investigated, a drug delivery approach to overcoming lipid rafts‐associated MDR is still lacking. Only a limited number of studies have sought to overcome membrane‐rigidity of MDR cancer cells.…”