Factors Influencing Oviposition Behavior in the Cricket, Acheta domesticus1

Abstract
The oviposition behavior of the house cricket, Acheta domesticus L. (Orthoptera: Gryllidae), was found to consist of a stereotyped pattern. Wet sand was a potent stimulus of this stereotyped oviposition behavior in mated females, whereas such behavior was minimal on dry substrates and in virgins. Injection of nanogram amounts of prostaglandin (PG) E2 triggered oviposition behavior in virgin females on wet sand. These findings suggest that PG may act to permit environmental cues to trigger oviposition once insemination has occurred.