Insects pheromone reception

P americana is one of just a few species of insects in which both peripheral and central olfactory processing have been studied. In contrast to many short-lived lepidopterans, in which the male antenna is highly specialized for sex pheromone reception, the antennae of male cockroaches contain numerous food-responsive sensilla. In addition to olfactory sensilla, the antennae also house mechano-, hygro-and thermoreceptors, as well as contact chemoreceptors (Schaller, 1978 review Boeckh et al., 1984). Extensive ultrastructural and electrophysiological evidence has demonstrated that morphologically defined sensillum types house receptor cells of specific functional types (Sass, 1976, 1978, 1983 Schaller, 1978 Selzer, 1981, 1984 review Boeckh and Ernst, 1987). Boeckh and Ernst (1987) defined 25 types of cell according to their odor spectra, but of the 65 500 chemo- and mechanosensory sensilla on the antenna of adult male P. americana, an estimated 37 000 house cells that respond to periplanone-A and periplanone-B. 

Vogt R. G. and Riddiford L. M. (1986) Pheromone reception a kinetic equilibrium. In Mechanisms in Insect Olfaction, eds T. L. Payne, M. C. Birch and C. E. J. Kennedy, pp. 201-208 Oxford University Press, New York. 

Renou M. and Lucas R (1994) Sex pheromone reception in Mamestra brassicae L. (Lepidoptera) responses of olfactory receptor neurones to minor components of the pheromone blend. J. Insect Physiol. 40, 75-85. 

The 1987 book Pheromone Biochemistry (Prestwich and Blomquist) summarized what was then known about the production and reception of insect pheromones. Remarkable advances in our understanding of pheromone production have occurred in the last one and a half decades, which is mirrored by similar advances in our understanding of pheromone reception. This progress is detailed herein by selected authors who are the leaders in the field. We have assembled contributed chapters from experts who are at the frontiers of pheromone chemistry, neurobiology, chemical ecology, molecular biology and biochemistry. 

Our understanding of pheromone reception had undergone dramatic change just prior to 1987 with the proposal that PBPs and pheromone degrading enzymes transported and inactivated pheromonal signals within the sensilla. The general framework of this process is now known to be widespread for most insects and for the reception of pheromones, plant volatiles and other odorants. 

Chlorpyrifos inhibits substrate-borne reception and emission of sex pheromone in Tri-chogramma brassicae, an entomophagus insect massively used as a biological control agent of com borers, among survivors of an LC20 dose. Inhibition was probably due to nervous system effects and was not specific to pheromone communication (Delpuech et al. 1998). 

The first half of this book deals with the production of pheromones, primarily in female insects, and the second half deals with reception of pheromones and other odorants, the former primarily in male insects and the latter in males, females and juveniles. Most of the work on pheromone production and reception is recent, all occurring in the past three decades. The emphasis in this book is on work done since 1987, when Pheromone Biochemistry (Prestwich and Blomquist, 1987) was published. From the work presented in this edition, it can readily be seen that the field has undergone tremendous advances in the last one and a half decades. 

This book is designed as a sourcebook for the next decade of research, and we hope it fills this expectation. Chapters have been assembled from experts who are at the frontiers of pheromone physiology, biochemistry, morphology, neurobiology and molecular biology. Ultimately, just as behavioral chemicals themselves have been extended to pest management, research on pheromone biosynthesis, hormonal regulation and reception may be directed toward application and ultimately used in insect control. 

Many of the target insects for pheromone biosynthesis and reception studies are pests of agricultural or medical importance. The intellectual exercise of unraveling the mechanisms involved in the production and reception of pheromone molecules is designed ultimately to lead to the development of the behaviormodifying agrochemicals of the future. 

Insect chemosensory organs have been differentially developed for taste and olfactory sensing. The contact and the distant chemosensory sensilla are responsible for nonvolatile and volatile chemical reception, respectively. The CHCs with long carbon chains are non-volatile, and therefore thought to be received by taste sensilla (Ebbs and Amrein, 2007). However, because of their insolubility in water, it was very difficult to obtain response recordings to them from taste sensilla. Success was recently obtained, however, in Drosophila melanogaster, where a male-specific CHC as a sex-pheromone inhibiting male-male courtship was found to stimulate the bitter taste receptor neuron within the... 

When insects are ready to reproduce, they depend on chemical signals, called sex pheromones, to help find mates. Mature females emit the pheromones, and males of the same species are able to detect them in extremely low concentrations from far away. The males follow the chemical signal in order to find receptive females. You can make or buy pheromone lures to intercept and trap pests before they reach your garden. Some products use pheromones as mating disruption lures. These products work by flooding the air with female sex pheromones, making it difficult for male insects to find the females for mating. Pheromones have been used extensively in commer-... 

Reproductive Behavior. Male accessory glands contain peptides which affect female reproductive behavior. Female sexual receptivity is diminished after mating (22) and oviposition is stimulated (22). Peptides responsible for these behaviors have been isolated from Drosophila species (22,23) and sequenced. In addition, a peptide with similar behavioral influences in a lepidopteran has been isolated from Helicoverpa zea (24). Miller (this volume) discusses the potential of these "sex peptides" in the development of unique insect control strategies. While males influence female reproductive behavior via the action of "sex peptides", females, especially in the Lepidop-tera, influence male behavior through the release of pheromone. The production of pheromone, in turn, is controlled by the pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PBAN for a comprehensive review see 25). PBAN-like activity has been observed in more than 20 insect species (25) and offers another avenue for exploitation of neuropeptides in insect control. 

The configuration of the double bond can have a profound effect on reception by the male insect. Sometimes a wrong isomer can completely inhibit the response to a pheromone. For example, the moth Eupoecilia ambiguella produces (Z)-9-dodecenyl acetate. Males are inhibited by as... 

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