Mate searching behavior

Here are the essentials. The female silkworm moth emits a 16-carbon alcohol, bombykol, which can be detected by the male moths who are then attracted to the female in search of sex. The parallel with human behavior, specifically our use of perfumes and colognes, for example, should be obvious. Mating may ensue, leading to reproduction and maintenance of the species, for the silkworm and for humans. 

Overall, results from clawed lobsters paint a picture that urinary chemical cues released by males and detected by females are necessary for the initial location of males by females. Then, when the animals are near each other, females release urinary chemicals that are detected by males, and this drives subsequent behavior. In spiny lobsters, females have been shown to approach tethered males (Raethke et al. 2004), and males have been observed to search for females in the field (Lipcius et al. 1983). More data are needed to establish the precise sequence of events leading to mating in spiny lobsters. 

Fig. 14.5 Mating behavior of the caridean Heptacarpus sitchensis (Bauer 1976), a species with a pure searching mating system, (a) Male makes contact with female via antennal flagellum (arrow) (b) male mounts female (c, d) copulation (male dips abdomen below that of female, which lowers pleopods to allow spermatophore deposition) (adapted from Bauer 2004)...

Mating - Mating behaviors are very important interspecies interactions. The search for a mate with which to reproduce is an instinctive behavior. Mating interrelationships often involve ritualistic and territorial behaviors that are often competitive. 

The search for medfly detection and control techniques focuses on mating behavior and sexual communication. These can be highly selective and efficient. 

Studies of insects searching for food, mates, refugia and other resources point out the problem of investigating the modification of behavior by chemicals without providing potential cues of other modalities. It has been necessary to isolate the effects of chemicals on the insect s behavior, but further investigation should re-insert the other relevant factors, so that we can... 

In addition to the alarm signals described previously, chemical signaling can also be involved in a wide range of interactions where marine or aquatic animals identify conspecifics, search for mates, or synchronize reproductive behavior. Although there is considerable anecdotal evidence for such signals (e.g., see review for Crustacea by Dunham 1978), rigorous demonstrations of intraspecific chemical signaling in aquatic systems are scarce. 

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