Gustatory responses of the cockroach, house fly, and gerbils to methyl glycosides

Abstract

Behavioral taste responses to sucrose and methyl glycosides were observed in the cockroach,Periplaneta americana and the fly,Musca domestica. In addition, the integrated taste responses to stimulation of the tongue by the same chemicals were recorded from the intact chorda tympani nerve in four species of gerbils (Meriones libycus, M. shawi, M. unguiculatus andPsammomys obesus). We observed the following: 1. Sucrose was the most effective stimulant. 2. Among the anomers, methyl α-D-glucopyranoside was more effective than methylβ-D-glucopyranoside (MBD-GLU). 3. Among the epimers, methylα-D-glucopyranoside (MAD-GLU) was more effective than methylα-D-mannopyranoside (MAD-MAN), methylα-D-allopyranoside (MAD-ALLO) or methylα-D-galactopyranoside (MAD-GAL). 4. Compared to the fly which responds only to sucrose and MAD-GLU to any extent, the cockroach responded positively to all the compounds tested except MBD-GLU and MAD-ALLO. 5. Among the gerbils, the effectiveness rank of the epimers is MAD-GLU > MAD-MAN > MAD GAL except forM. shawi where the ranking is MAD-GLU > MAD-GAL > MAD-MAN.