Chemical basis of courtship in a beetle (Neopyrochroa flabellata): cantharidin as precopulatory "enticing" agent.
Open Access
- 25 June 1996
- journal article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Vol. 93 (13) , 6494-6498
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.93.13.6494
Abstract
Male Neopyrochroa flabellata have a natural affinity for cantharidin (Spanish fly). They are attracted to cantharidin baits in the field and feed on the compound if it is offered to them in the laboratory. Males that ingest cantharidin secrete cantharidin from a cephalic gland. Females sample secretion from this gland during courtship and mate preferentially with males that had fed on cantharidin. Cantharidin-unfed males can be rendered acceptable to females if cantharidin is added to their cephalic gland.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- Chemical basis of courtship in a beetle (Neopyrochroa flabellata): Cantharidin as "nuptial gift".Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1996
- Quantitative determination of cantharidin in biological materials using capillary gas chromatography with flame ionization detectionJournal of Chromatography B: Biomedical Sciences and Applications, 1985