Pheromone production and mating behaviour by allatectomized males of the cockroach, Nauphoeta cinerea

Males of Nauphoeta cinerea produce a volatile pheromone which attracts the female for mating. Allatectomy of males either 5 days prior to or within 12 hr following the imaginal ecdysis does not impair pheromone production, pheromone release, nor any observable aspect of mating behaviour. It is proposed that in N. cinerea, and in other cockroach species where the male releases a volatile pheromone to attract the female, pheromone production is not controlled by the corpora allata, and pheromone release is under direct motor control.