Body Surface Of Females Research Articles

Chemical signatures of egg maternity and Dufour’s gland in Vespine wasps

Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are often used in the chemical communication among social insects. CHCs can be used in nestmate recognition and as queen pheromones, the latter allows the regulation of the reproductive division of labor. In the common wasp Vespula vulgaris, CHCs and egg-marking hydrocarbons are caste-specific, being hydrocarbon queen pheromones and egg maternity signals. Whether these compounds are conserved among other Vespinae wasps remains unknown. Queens, virgin queens, reproductive workers, and workers belonging to four different wasp species, Dolichovespula media, Dolichovespula saxonica, Vespa crabro, and Vespula germanica, were collected and studied. The cuticular hydrocarbons, egg surface, and Dufour's gland composition were characterized and it was found that chemical compounds are caste-specific in the four species. Quantitative and qualitative differences were detected in the cuticle, eggs, and Dufour's gland. Some specific hydrocarbons that were shown to be overproduced in the cuticle of queens were also present in higher quantities in queen-laid eggs and in their Dufour's gland. These hydrocarbons can be indicated as putative fertility signals that regulate the division of reproductive labor in these Vespine societies. Our results are in line with the literature for V. vulgaris and D. saxonica, in which hydrocarbons were shown to be conserved queen signals. This work presents correlative evidence that queen chemical compounds are found not only over the body surface of females but also in other sources, such as the Dufour's gland and eggs.

FIRST RECORD OF THE PARASITIC COPEPOD, LERNANTHROPUS INDICUS (CRUSTACEA: LERNANTHROPIDAE) ON CARANGOIDES BAJAD FROM THE RED SEA, EGYPT

The present work investigated Lernanthropidae copepod genus Lernanthropus based on adult female specimens removed from the gills of orange spotted travally Carangoides bajad, a commercially important teleost fish species of the Red Sea, Egypt in during the period from April 2015 to March 2016. A total of 82 C. bajad (Local name: Bayad) were examined, 35specimens were identified as Lernanthropus indicus. Lernanthropus indicus is an important pest of economically valuable importance fishes in seawater and, therefore, can cause severe damage to the host tissues. The present work represents the first record for the presence of this parasite in C. bajad fish as a new host in Red Sea water. The presented results were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. Female body surface ventrally ornamented with patches of setules and elongated with long egg sacs. Cephalothorax with dorsal shield slightly is narrower anteriorly. SEM showed that the 2nd antenna of Lernanthropus is characteristically prehensile and uncinate and thus provides the main force for the attachment to the host tissue.

FIRST RECORD OF THE PARASITIC COPEPOD, LERNANTHROPUS INDICUS (CRUSTACEA: LERNANTHROPIDAE) ON CARANGOIDES BAJAD FROM THE RED SEA, EGYPT

The present work investigated Lernanthropidae copepod genus Lernanthropus based on adult female specimens removed from the gills of orange spotted travally Carangoides bajad, a commercially important teleost fish species of the Red Sea, Egypt in during the period from April 2015 to March 2016. A total of 82 C. bajad (Local name: Bayad) were examined, 35specimens were identified as Lernanthropus indicus. Lernanthropus indicus is an important pest of economically valuable importance fishes in seawater and, therefore, can cause severe damage to the host tissues. The present work represents the first record for the presence of this parasite in C. bajad fish as a new host in Red Sea water. The presented results were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. Female body surface ventrally ornamented with patches of setules and elongated with long egg sacs. Cephalothorax with dorsal shield slightly is narrower anteriorly. SEM showed that the 2nd antenna of Lernanthropus is characteristically prehensile and uncinate and thus provides the main force for the attachment to the host tissue.

Simultaneously hermaphroditic shrimp use lipophilic cuticular hydrocarbons as contact sex pheromones.

Successful mating is essentially a consequence of making the right choices at the correct time. Animals use specific strategies to gain information about a potential mate, which is then applied to decision-making processes. Amongst the many informative signals, odor cues such as sex pheromones play important ecological roles in coordinating mating behavior, enabling mate and kin recognition, qualifying mate choice, and preventing gene exchange among individuals from different populations and species. Despite overwhelming behavioral evidence, the chemical identity of most cues used in aquatic organisms remains unknown and their impact and omnipresence have not been fully recognized. In many crustaceans, including lobsters and shrimps, reproduction happens through a cascade of events ranging from initial attraction to formation of a mating pair eventually leading to mating. We examined the hypothesis that contact pheromones on the female body surface of the hermaphroditic shrimp Lysmata boggessi are of lipophilic nature, and resemble insect cuticular hydrocarbon contact cues. Via chemical analyses and behavioural assays, we show that newly molted euhermaphrodite-phase shrimp contain a bouquet of odor compounds. Of these, (Z)-9-octadecenamide is the key odor with hexadecanamide and methyl linoleate enhancing the bioactivity of the pheromone blend. Our results show that in aquatic systems lipophilic, cuticular hydrocarbon contact sex pheromones exist; this raises questions on how hydrocarbon contact signals evolved and how widespread these are in the marine environment.

The comparative morphology of Marshallagia marshalli and Ostertagia occidentalis (Nematoda: Strongylida, Trichostrongylidae) by scanning electron microscopy

The systematics of the Ostertagiinae is unsettled with no agreement on how many genera and species are present in cattle and sheep. Ten species of Ostertagiinae are commonly parasitic in cattle and sheep. In the global fauna, six of 13 ostertagiine genera are endemic to Iran. The life cycle of Ostertaginae is direct and ingested third-stage larvae after exsheatment in the rumen, penetrate the gastric glands in the abomasal mucosa where two parasitic moults occur before the L5 emerges from the gland. In the present work, Marshallagia marshalli and Ostertagia occidentalis, collected from the abomasums of sheep from Mashhad, Iran, is described. The association of light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) allowed a detailed analysis of the morphology and ultrastructure of these nematodes. The male body length of M. marshalli and O. occidentalis were 9.3-10.20 and 9.60-10.50 mm, respectively. The female body length of M. marshalli and O. occidentalis were 10.10-15.30 and 10.4-15.70 mm, respectively. One of cervical papillae is seen 333 and 250 μm from the anterior end of male and female body surface in O. occidentalis and 287.5 and 200 μm from the anterior end of male and female body surface in M. marshalli, respectively. The size of cervical papillae is 13.3 μm in male and 10 μm in female in O. occidentalis and 9.33 μm in male and 8.57 μm in female in M. marshalli. Some other taxonomic features of M. marshalli and O. occidentalis, such as details of cephalic region, the system of longitudinal and surface cuticular ridges (synlophe), the orientation of rays of the copulatory bursa, localization of vulva, morphology of vulvar flap, and posterior end of females are also documented by SEM.

Differences in venom and cuticular peptides in individuals of Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) determined by MALDI-TOF MS

The fraction between 950 and 4000 Da of the venom of Apis mellifera has been analyzed with MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and statistical facilities of the ClinProTools™ software. Consistent differences in the composition of this venom fraction were observed between queens and workers while younger and older workers (nurses and guards as well as foragers) differ for the relative percentages of two well known cytolytic peptides, namely Melittin and Apamin. Total in situ body methanol extracts and methanol micro-extractions on the cuticle of various parts of the body of drones and females confirmed that venom peptides are smeared on the body surface of females in a not yet clarified way. The observation that venom peptides have been found also on comb wax rises the hypothesis that the use of venom as antimicrobial agent makes part of the social immunity system of A. mellifera.

Genetic determinants of mate recognition in Brachionus manjavacas(Rotifera)

BackgroundMate choice is of central importance to most animals, influencing population structure, speciation, and ultimately the survival of a species. Mating behavior of male brachionid rotifers is triggered by the product of a chemosensory gene, a glycoprotein on the body surface of females called the mate recognition pheromone. The mate recognition pheromone has been biochemically characterized, but little was known about the gene(s). We describe the isolation and characterization of the mate recognition pheromone gene through protein purification, N-terminal amino acid sequence determination, identification of the mate recognition pheromone gene from a cDNA library, sequencing, and RNAi knockdown to confirm the functional role of the mate recognition pheromone gene in rotifer mating.ResultsA 29 kD protein capable of eliciting rotifer male circling was isolated by high-performance liquid chromatography. Two transcript types containing the N-terminal sequence were identified in a cDNA library; further characterization by screening a genomic library and by polymerase chain reaction revealed two genes belonging to each type. Each gene begins with a signal peptide region followed by nearly perfect repeats of an 87 to 92 codon motif with no codons between repeats and the final motif prematurely terminated by the stop codon. The two Type A genes contain four and seven repeats and the two Type B genes contain three and five repeats, respectively. Only the Type B gene with three repeats encodes a peptide with a molecular weight of 29 kD. Each repeat of the Type B gene products contains three asparagines as potential sites for N-glycosylation; there are no asparagines in the Type A genes. RNAi with Type A double-stranded RNA did not result in less circling than in the phosphate-buffered saline control, but transfection with Type B double-stranded RNA significantly reduced male circling by 17%. The very low divergence between repeat units, even at synonymous positions, suggests that the repeats are kept nearly identical through a process of concerted evolution. Information-rich molecules like surface glycoproteins are well adapted for chemical communication and aquatic animals may have evolved signaling systems based on these compounds, whereas insects use cuticular hydrocarbons.ConclusionOwing to its critical role in mating, the mate recognition pheromone gene will be a useful molecular marker for exploring the mechanisms and rates of selection and the evolution of reproductive isolation and speciation using rotifers as a model system. The phylogenetic variation in the mate recognition pheromone gene can now be studied in conjunction with the large amount of ecological and population genetic data being gathered for the Brachionus plicatilis species complex to understand better the evolutionary drivers of cryptic speciation.

Mate choice and sexual conflict in Brachionus plicatilis (Rotifera)

Male mate choice in Brachionus plicatilis is based on information from coronal receptors and contact chemoreception of a glycoprotein signal on the body surface of females. Male mating behavior is modulated by mating signal quality and strength, which determines male mating persistence and circling intensity. We probe the sensory abilities of males by better resolving their discrimination of female age. Males preferentially initiate mating with young females, but not too young. Males circle 0.2 h old females just hatched from resting eggs only about 1/2 as frequently as 12 h old females. Males are even more discriminating of females with whom they copulate, preferring 3 h old females significantly more than 0.2 h or 6 h old females. In contrast, males cannot distinguish between virgin females and those who have already copulated. Similarly, males circled and copulated with females hatching from resting eggs with equal frequency as those hatching from amictic eggs. The counterpoint to male mate choice is female resistance to mating. When males contact females, the females respond with one of four behaviors: no response, acceleration, foot flipping, or coronal retraction. In 65% of male–female encounters, there was no initial response by females. However, when males began circling females, females accelerated 11.1 times more often than when males were absent. The second type of evasive female behavior was foot-flipping, which tends to knock off males attempting to circle the female. In the presence of circling males, females performed foot-flipping behavior three times more often than in the absence of males. Coronal retraction, where they stop swimming and withdraw their corona, was observed less frequently than acceleration or foot-flipping, and there was no difference in the presence or absence of males. These data are interpreted in the context of sexual conflict, where the behaviors that optimize male and female fitness differ.

Possible Presence of Pheromone in Mating Behavior of the Pine Sawyer Monochamus saltuarius Gebler (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

The mating behavior of the pine sawyer, Monochamus saltuarius, is composed of two phases. The first phase is the female approach to pheromone-releasing males. When bioassayed by T-tube olfactometer, the female was moved toward the male and hexane extract of the male. The second phase is the male mounted the female to copulate after perceiving the contact pheromone being on the female body surface. When the hexane extract of the female body surface was applied onto a glass rod (dummy), the male showed the mating behavior to the dummy. The component of female body surface extract fractionated using a silicic acid column elicited mating behaviors of the males, and the other component by ether fraction was showed a high copulatory attempt. This study was discussed two-step functions of the pheromones in the beetle mating behavior.

Discrimination of Conspecific Individuals via Cuticular Pheromones by Males of the Cricket Gryllus bimaculatus

Cuticular substances on the body surface of crickets serve as pheromones that elicit a variety of different behaviors in male crickets. Antennal contact between males and females resulted in courtship behavior, and that between two males resulted in aggressive displays. As a first step in elucidating how crickets recognize and discriminate individuals, behavioral responses of male individuals to cuticular substances of conspecific males or females were investigated. The behavioral responses of males to antennal or palpal stimulation with an isolated antenna from a male or a female were recorded. To both antennal and palpal stimulation with female antennae, the majority of males responded with courtship behavior; to stimulation with male antennae, males responded with aggressive displays. To gain insight into the chemical nature of the behaviorally relevant components, isolated antennae were washed in either n-hexane, acetone or ethanol before behavior assays. Washed antennae no longer elicited courtship or aggressive responses in males. Next, polypropylene fibers were smeared with substances from the body surface of females and used for antennal stimulation. This experiment showed that the quality and quantity of cuticular substances appear to be highly age-dependent. Significantly more males responded with courtship behavior to cuticular substances from younger females. Isolated males generally showed higher levels of aggression than males reared in groups. Grouped males also were more likely to display courtship behavior towards antennae from younger females, and aggressive behavior towards antennae from older females. These results suggest that male discrimination of mating partners depends on the nature of female cuticular substances.

Circadian Reproductive Rhythms, Pair-Bonding, and Evidence for Sex-Specific Pheromones in Nadezhdiella cantori (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

Mating and oviposition rhythms and evidence for sex-specific pheromones of the gray-black citrus longicorn beetle Nadezhdiella cantori were investigated. The reproductive and flight activities of this insect mainly occurred between 1700 and 2400 h, and each activity had two peaks with the first one taking place within the 3 h before sunset (2100 h) and the second occurring within the 3 h after sunset. Circadian rhythms of mating and oviposition were significantly correlated but neither mating nor oviposition was significantly correlated with flight. It is suggested that mating and oviposition repeat in turn during pair-bonding and that flight is an indication of termination of reproductive activities in some individuals of a population. Males differentiated between sexes by touching. Mating behavior of males was stimulated by a contact female sex pheromone on the female body surface. Fighting behavior of males was mediated by a chemical on the male body surface. Females left trails of the contact sex pheromone on the trees when walking, which males used to locate them. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Identification of sex, age and species-specific proteins on the surface of the harpacticoid copepod Tigriopus japonicus

Behavioral experiments have shown that male copepods of the species Tigriopus japonicus (Nori) can distinguish species, sex, and developmental stage of potential mates using contact chemoreception. Lectin-binding patterns on the body surface of females have indicated that surface-bound glycoproteins may be important signals in mate choice. In the present study, the proteolytic enzyme trypsin was used to cleave surface proteins from females, reducing their attractiveness to males. The protein fragments released were used to make monoclonal antibodies. Three levels of screening were used to identify monoclonal antibodies that recognized proteins involved in mate recognition. One monoclonal antibody bound to the terminal urosome and lateral prosome of CV females, and its binding significantly decreased female attractiveness to males. Western blotting showed that this antibody bound the trypsin-cleaved fragment and proteins of homogenized CV females and virgin adult females, but did not bind proteins of homogenized males, CIII females, or females of T. californicus or T. fulvus. This antibody recognized proteins on the surface of females that may enable males to discriminate conspecifics, sex, and age. It is likely that this molecule has a central role in the evolution of reproductive isolation in this group.

Reproductive biology of the yellow-spotted longicorn beetle,Psacothea hilaris (pascoe) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). III. Identification of contact sex pheromone on female body surface

A major component of female contact sex pheromone of the yellow-spotted longicorn beetle,Psacothea hilaris (Pascoe), was isolated from the elytra and identified as (Z)-21-methyl-8-pentatriacontene. The synthetic compound released the typical mating behavior including holding, mounting, and abdominal bending in males, although its activity was considerably lower than the extract of female elytra when treated on a gelatin capsule as an artificial female model.

Localization of the mate-recognition pheromone in Brachionus plicatilis O.F. Müller (Rotifera) by fluorescent labeling with lectins

Mate-recognition in the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis O.F. Müller is based upon male contact chcmoreception of a glycoprotein pheromone on the body surface of females. The highest densities of this glycoprotein were found on the corona of females as determined by fluorescence microscopy. A time series experiment demonstrated that binding sites on the corona fluoresced before any other structure and did so most intensely. The lorica margin of females fluoresced weakly after 20 min of exposure, suggesting that the mate-recognition pheromone (MRP) is present, but in low density. In males, the corona also was the most intensely labeled structure on the body surface. Pretreatment of rotifers with the lectins Concanavalin A, (ConA), Lens culinaris, Vicia faba and Pisum sativum blocked subsequent labeling with ConA-fluoroisothiocyanate (FITC). Exposure to other lectins did not block ConA-FITC-labeling. Quantitation of fluorescence intensity using image analysis demonstrated that the contrast between a glycoprotein signal and background ranged from 2 to 19.5. In situ degradation of the MRP by the glycohydrolasc N-glycanase reduced lectin-binding and the intensity of fluorescent-labeling. Since N-glycanase deglycosylation of glycoprotcin on the body surface of live females sharply reduced their ability to elicit male-mating reactions, it is clear that the same oligosaccharides critical for lectin-binding also are essential for male-recognition. These lectin probes have enabled us to visualize the distribution of the MRP on the body surface of females and provided insight into the copulatory behavior of males.

Mating Behavior of the Cryptomeria Bark Borer, Semanotus japonicus LACORDAIRE(Coleoptera:Cerambycidae)

Mating behavior of the cryptomeria bark borer, Semanotus japonicus, was studied using glass containers, a wind tunnel and a T-shaped olfactometer. The mating sequence showed that an olfactory cue emitted by females and was effective at close range. Choice test using a T-shaped olfactometer showed a significant preference to female odor by males whereas females were not attracted to male nor female odor. Removal of antennae and blinding in males delay copulation, while similar treatment did not have any effect on females. Males did not show copulatory attempts even after contact with females that had been washed with hexane. Males tried to copulate with the glass rod impregnated recently or seven days earlier with female surface and abdominal rinse. This suggested that some substance on the female body surface is responsible for eliciting copulation and the substance is stable and not volatile.

Effect of nuclear polyhedrosis virus infection in Spodoptera ornithogalli larvae on post larval stages and dissemination by adults

Nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) infection in fourth-instar yellow striped armyworm, Spodoptera ornithogalli (SoNPV), larvae had little effect on individuals that survived to post larval stages. Pupal mortality, pupal sex ratio, days in the pupal and adult stages, and egg fertility were not altered by the disease. Fecundity, however, was significantly reduced in moths that had survived the viral disease as larvae ( P < 0.05). Survivors did not transmit the disease to progeny, but when the virus was applied to the body surface of females by any of several methods the disease was spread to progeny in the laboratory and in field-caged soybean. Transmission by contaminated females in oviposition cages in the laboratory differed by the method of contamination. Mortality in progeny was highest (77.3%) when moths were wetted with 0.005% sodium dodecyl sulfate and dusted with 10 10 polyhedral inclusion bodies per gram of SoNPV. Mortality of progeny decreased as the time moths were held in the oviposition cage increased and with moth activity prior to placing them in the oviposition cage. Viral infection was much lower in progeny on field-caged soybean with the mean mortality from SoNPV varying with the method of moth contamination from 3.3 to 19.6%.