Storage and release of a sex pheromone by the Queensland fruit fly, Dacus tryoni (Diptera: Trypetidae).

Abstract

Dacus tryoni (Frogg.) mates at dusk. During courtship, males stridulate by drawing their wings across a pair of combs formed from large bristles on the third abdominal tergite. This produces a high pitched buzz, audible to the human ear, which is considered to be a mating call1. It has now been demonstrated that the male also produces a sex pheromone which is released at the same time as stridulation. This discovery is particularly interesting, for it not only provides a further example of a species in which the male produces a sex pheromone, but also is the only known case in which a sex pheromone is stored in a special reservoir before release. This communication briefly describes some of the experimental work which has been carried out with the pheromone.