Social interactions in insects are driven by conspecific chemical signals that are detected via olfactory and gustatory neurons. Odorant binding proteins (Obps) transport volatile odorants to chemosensory receptors, but their effects on behaviors remain poorly characterized. Here, we report that RNAi knockdown of Obp56h gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster enhances mating behavior by redu...

The first steps of animal speciation are thought to be the development of sexual isolating mechanisms. In contrast to recent progress in understanding the genetic basis of postzygotic isolating mechanisms, little is known about the genetic architecture of sexual isolation. Here, we have subjected Drosophila melanogaster to 29 generations of replicated divergent artificial selection for mating s...

The main component of classical contraceptives, 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), has high estrogenic activity even at environmentally relevant concentrations. Although estrogenic endocrine disrupting compounds are assumed to contribute to the worldwide decline of amphibian populations by adverse effects on sexual differentiation, evidence for EE2 affecting amphibian mating behaviour is lacking. In t...

Understanding the natural mating behavior (selfor cross-pollination) in watermelon is important to the design of a suitable breeding strategy. The objective of this study was to measure the rate of selfand cross-pollination in watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai] using the dominant gene Sp (Spotted leaves and fruit) as a marker. The experiment consisted of two studies and was...

The mating season of the Atlantic stingray (Dasyatis sabina), which begins in August and continues through April, is the longest documented for any elasmobranch fish. Despite this protracted mating period, female stingrays ovulate synchronously at the end of the mating season and there is no evidence for sperm storage by females. Thus, the proximate causal factors and ultimate function of this ...

Previous studies on two species of the genus Rhynchocinetes (‘‘hingebeak’’ shrimps) have described mating systems in which large dominant ‘‘robustus’’ males, with hypertrophied cheliped and third maxilliped weaponry, guard and defend smaller females during copulation. The sexual system of these species is gonochoric (separate sexes). In this preliminary study on the sexual biology of R. uritai,...

The extent of variation in mating signals between environments can be an important determinant of reproductive isolation. We tested divergence in male courtship behavior between lake and stream three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) in the Misty system, Vancouver Island. Presumably, genetically based divergence was assessed by comparing male behavior (aggressive, display, and nest...

Mating-induced Fos-immunoreactive (-ir) cells are colocalized with androgen receptors (AR), estrogen receptors (ER), or both in limbic and hypothalamic areas known to mediate male rat mating behavior. A steroid-responsive neural network might govern copulatory behavior in male laboratory rats that is analogous to the network described in female rats that governs the lordosis response. This hypo...