Release mechanism of sex pheromone in the female gypsy moth <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lymantria dispar</Emphasis>: a morpho-functional approach |
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Authors: | Paolo Solari Roberto Crnjar Saturnino Spiga Giorgia Sollai Francesco Loy Carla Masala Anna Liscia |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Experimental Biology, Section of General Physiology, University of Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, SS 554 km 4.5, 09042 Monserrato (CA), Italy;(2) Department of Animal Biology and Ecology, University of Cagliari, V.le Poetto 1, 09126 Cagliari, Italy;(3) Department of Cytomorphology, University of Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, SS 554 km 4.5, 09042 Monserrato (CA), Italy |
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Abstract: | A morpho-functional investigation of the sex pheromone-producing area was correlated with the pheromone release mechanism
in the female gypsy moth Lymantria dispar. As assessed by male electroantennograms (EAG) and morphological observations, the pheromone gland consists of a single-layered
epithelium both in the dorsal and ventral halves of the intersegmental membrane between the 8th and 9th abdominal segments.
By using the male EAG as a biosensor of real-time release of sex pheromone from whole calling females, we found this process
time coupled with extension movements of the ovipositor. Nevertheless, in females in which normal calling behavior was prevented,
pheromone release was detected neither in absence nor in presence of electrical stimulation of the ventral nerve cord/terminal
abdominal ganglion (TAG) complex. Tetramethylrhodamine-conjugated dextran amine stainings also confirm the lack of any innervation
of the gland from nerves IV to VI emerging from the TAG. These findings indicate that the release of sex pheromone from the
glands in female gypsy moths is independent of any neural control exerted by the TAG on the glands, at least by way of its
three most caudally located pairs of nerves, and appears as a consequence of a squeezing mechanism in the pheromone-producing
area. |
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Keywords: | Electroantennogram Pheromone release Morphology Gypsy moth Lymantria dispar |
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