{"title":"Role of cuticular hydrocarbons and social cues in mate recognition and copulatory behavior of ladybird beetle, Cheilomenes sexmaculata (Fabricius)","authors":"Priya Yadav, Geetanjali Mishra, Tripti Yadav, Omkar","doi":"10.1007/s10211-025-00472-0","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The efficiency of insects in finding a suitable mate is crucial for their reproductive success. Chemical communication is primarily used to search for and recognize a potential mate. At close range, cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are known to serve as mate recognition cue. In this study, we assessed the role of CHCs and social cues in mate and sex recognition through behavioral assays in ladybird beetle, <i>Cheilomenes sexmaculata</i>. To examine the role of CHCs in sex and mate recognition focal males were exposed to alive males and females and CHCs washed females (immersed in chloroform for 5 min, 30 min and 24 h) respectively. For social cues, males were made to encounter alive as well as dead males and females. Their copulation attempts and mating parameters (time to commence mating and copulation duration) were recorded. We also assessed whether males only mounted the dead females or copulated with them (i.e., transferred ejaculate). Our results revealed that focal males showed higher copulation attempts with alive individuals, regardless of sex. However, they attempted copulation with dead females significantly more often than with dead males. Washing of CHCs significantly influenced copulation attempts, with unwashed beetles showing a 100% attempt rate, followed by those immersed in chloroform for varying durations. Males initiated mating sooner and engaged in longer copulation with alive females compared to dead ones. Although, males mounted and copulated with dead females, no difference in sperm transfer was observed compared to alive females. Our study demonstrated that CHCs along with social cues (such as movement), play a pivotal role in eliciting male copulatory behavior.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":6879,"journal":{"name":"acta ethologica","volume":"28 3","pages":"171 - 179"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"acta ethologica","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10211-025-00472-0","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The efficiency of insects in finding a suitable mate is crucial for their reproductive success. Chemical communication is primarily used to search for and recognize a potential mate. At close range, cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are known to serve as mate recognition cue. In this study, we assessed the role of CHCs and social cues in mate and sex recognition through behavioral assays in ladybird beetle, Cheilomenes sexmaculata. To examine the role of CHCs in sex and mate recognition focal males were exposed to alive males and females and CHCs washed females (immersed in chloroform for 5 min, 30 min and 24 h) respectively. For social cues, males were made to encounter alive as well as dead males and females. Their copulation attempts and mating parameters (time to commence mating and copulation duration) were recorded. We also assessed whether males only mounted the dead females or copulated with them (i.e., transferred ejaculate). Our results revealed that focal males showed higher copulation attempts with alive individuals, regardless of sex. However, they attempted copulation with dead females significantly more often than with dead males. Washing of CHCs significantly influenced copulation attempts, with unwashed beetles showing a 100% attempt rate, followed by those immersed in chloroform for varying durations. Males initiated mating sooner and engaged in longer copulation with alive females compared to dead ones. Although, males mounted and copulated with dead females, no difference in sperm transfer was observed compared to alive females. Our study demonstrated that CHCs along with social cues (such as movement), play a pivotal role in eliciting male copulatory behavior.
期刊介绍:
acta ethologica publishes empirical and theoretical research papers, short communications, commentaries, reviews and book reviews as well as methods papers in the field of ethology and related disciplines, with a strong concentration on the behavior biology of humans and other animals.
The journal places special emphasis on studies integrating proximate (mechanisms, development) and ultimate (function, evolution) levels in the analysis of behavior. Aspects of particular interest include: adaptive plasticity of behavior, inter-individual and geographic variations in behavior, mechanisms underlying behavior, evolutionary processes and functions of behavior, and many other topics.
acta ethologica is an official journal of ISPA, CRL and the Portuguese Ethological Society (SPE)