Contact chemoreceptive sex recognition in the male cricket, Teleogryllus commodus

ABSTRACT. A behavioural continuum ranging from extreme aggression to overt sexual behaviour was used to measure male crickets' reactions to being touched in a standardized manner on their antennae with freshly severed antennae of male and female conspecifics. Sexually receptive males responded primarily with the aggressive song to male antennae and with the courtship song to female antennae. The ontogeny of the antennal effectiveness and the males' reaction was also determined. Because the ability of the antennae to elicit a reaction could be eliminated by treating them with chloroform, and since there were no morphological differences between male and female antennae, separate male and female sex recognition pheromones must be implicated. The chemo-tactile nature of these substances is indicated by the inability to obtain either behavioural or EAG responses to air carrying the odour of males or females.