Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T12:09:35.109Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sound production associated with sexual behaviour of the tsetse, Glossina morsitans morsitans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2011

R. K. Saini
R. K. Saini
Affiliation:
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), P.O. Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya
Get access

Abstract

Sounds produced in relation to the sexual behaviour of the tsetse, Glossina m. morsitans, were investigated. During mating, a receptive virgin female adopted a relatively passive role while the male produced sound and drummed her with the tarsi of the meso- and metathoracic legs upto about 4–5 min immediately after mounting. During the long cppulatory phase, the male only produced sound when the female became restless or the pair was disturbed. No sounds were produced during the ejaculatory phase after which the flies separated.

Immediately after separation, the females were often receptive for further short copulations, but were completely unreceptive 24 hr later and showed vigorous repellent behaviour. The post-copulatory behaviour patterns and the rejection behaviour of the female were also accompanied by sound production. Although males readily mated with freshly killed females with the usual mating behaviour, sound production was less intense than when the females were live.

Mating sounds were composed of frequencies up to 50 kHz with the exception of the sounds produced by males, while mating with freshly killed females which not only lacked any ultrasonic components, but were also of low intensity. The most dominant frequency was centered between 1.5 and 2.5 kHz. Peaks were also observed between 0.5 and 0.8 kHz, around 5 and 9 kHz. On the basis of intensity, it is suggested that the frequency components below 10 kHz carry the most important part of the acoustic signal.

Résumé

Des sons associés au comportement sexuel du tsétsé ont été étudiés. Pendant l'accouplement, la femelle vierge adoptait un rôle relativement passif tandis que le mále produisait du son et la battait avec les tarses de ses pattes méso- et métathoraciques pendant approx. 4–5 min immédiatement après l'avoir montée. Pendant la longue phase d'accouplement, le mâle ne produisait du son que quand la femelle se débatait ou quand le couple était dérangé. Il n'y avait aucun son produit pendant la phase éjaculatoire après laquelle les mouches se séparaient.

Immédiatement après la séparation, les femelles étaient prêtes à s'engager dans d'autres accouplements de courte durée, mais 24 hr après, elles manifestaient un comportment vigoureusement répulsif. Le comportement de rejet de la femelle après l'accouplement était aussi accompagné par la production de son. Quoique les mâles s'accouplaient aisément avec les femelles récemment tuées en suivant le comportement normal d'accouplement, la production de son était moins intense que quand les femelles étaient vivantes.

Les sons d'accouplement étaient composés de fréquences atteignant 50 kHz, à l'exception des sons produits par les mâles pendant leur accouplement avec les femelles récemment tuées qui non seulement manquaient toute composante ultrasonique, mais étaient aussi de faible intensité.

La fréquence la plus dominante était centrée entre 1,5–2,5 kHz. Des apogées étaient aussi observées entre 0, 5–0, 8 kHz, autour de 5 et 9 kHz. Sur la base de l'intensité, il faut suggérer que les composantes de fréquence au-dessous de 10 kHz portent la partie la plus importante du signal accoustique.

Keywords

Glossinatsetsemating behavioursound productionpost-copulatory behaviourGlossinatsétsécomportement pendant l'accouplementproduction de soncomportement après l'accouplement
Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Tropical Insect Science , Volume 6 , Issue 6 , December 1985 , pp. 637 - 644
Copyright
Copyright © ICIPE 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Assem, J. van den and Putters, F. A. (1980) Patterns of sounds produced by courting Chalcidoid males and its biological significance. Entomologia exp. appi. 27, 293–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennet-Clark, H. C. and Ewing, A. W. (1967) Stimuli provided by courtship of male Drosophila melanogaster. Nature 215, 669–671.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, R. G. B. (1964) Courtship behaviour in Drosophila obscura and D. pseudoobscura. Behaviour 23, 61–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burnet, B., Connolly, K. and Dennis, L. (1971) The function and processing of auditory information in the courtship behaviour of Drosophila melanogaster. Anim. Behav. 19, 409–415.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carlson, D. A., Langley, P. A. and Huyton, P. (1978) Sex pheromone of the tsetse fly: isolation, identification and synthesis of contact aphrodisiacs. Science. 201, 750–753.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chowdhury, V. and Parr, M. J. (1981) The ‘Switch mechanism’ and sound production in tsetse flies (Diptera: Glossinidae). J. Nat. Hist. 15, 87–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connolly, K. and Cook, R. (1973) Rejection responses by female Drosophila melanogaster: their ontogeny, causality and effects upon the behaviour of the courting male. Behaviour. 44, 142–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dean, G. J. W., Clements, S. A. and Paget, J. (1967) Observations on sex attraction and mating behaviour of the tsetse fly, G. morsitans orientalis. Bull. ent. Res. 59, 355–365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Den Otter, C. J. and Saini, R. K. (1985) Pheromone perception in the tsetse fly Glossina morsitans morsitans. Entomologia exp. appl. In press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erickson, I. E. C. and Moller, A. R. (1975a) Sound production in the tsetse fly G. m. morsitans. J. acoust. Soc. Am. 57, 984–986.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erickson, I. E. C. and Moller, A. R. (1975b) Tsetse fly G. m. morsitans produces ultrasound related to behaviour. Ex-perientia. 31, 788–790.Google Scholar
Ewing, A. W. and Bennet-Clark, H. C. (1968) The courtship songs of Drosophila. Behaviour 31, 288–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glasgow, J. P. (1963) The Distribution and Abundance of Tsetse. Pergamon Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Huyton, P. M. and Langley, P. A. (1982) Copulatory behaviour of the tsetse flies, G. morsitans and G. austeni. Physiol. Ent. 7, 167–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huyton, P. M., Langley, P. A., Carlson, D. A. and Coates, T. W. (1980) The role of sex pheromones in initiation of copulatory behaviour by male tsetse flies, G. m. morsitans. Physiol. Ent. 5, 243–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaenson, T. G. T. (1979a) Mating behaviour of Glossina pallidipes Austen (Diptera, Glossinidae): duration of copulation, insemination and fecundity. Entomologia exp. appl. 26, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaenson, T. G. T. (1979b) Mating behaviour of males of Glossina pallidipes Austen (Diptera: Glossinidae). Bull. ent. Res. 69, 573–588.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langley, P. A., Pimley, R. W. and Carlson, D. A. (1975) Sex recognition pheromone in tsetse fly G. morsitans. Nature 254, 51–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langley, P. A., Huyton, P. M., Carlson, D. A. and Schwarz, M. (1981) Effects of G. m. morsitans Westw. (Diptera, Glossinidae) sex pheromone on behaviour of males in field and laboratory. Bull. ent. Res. 71, 57–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maudlin, I. (1969) Studies on tsetse fly attractants. EATRO Annual Report 1968, pp. 62–63.Google Scholar
Mews, A. R., Offori, E., Baumgartner, R. H. and Luger, D. (1972) Techniques used at the IAEA Laboratory for rearing the tsetse fly, G. morsitans Westw. Proc. 13th Meeting OAU/ISCTRC, LAGOS, OAU/ISCTRC, Publ. No. 105, pp. 243–254.Google Scholar
Pollock, J. N. (1974) Anatomical relations during sperm transfer in G. austeni. Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond. 125, 489–501.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rudrauf, J. M. (1977) Comportement acoustico-sexuel d'une glossine, Glossina fuscipes fuscipes Newstead, 1910. Ann. zool. ecol. Anim. 9, 389–406.Google Scholar
Saini, R. K. (1983) Sound production associated with feeding behaviour of the tsetse, G. m. morsitans. Entomologia exp. appl. 34, 1–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schilcher, F. von (1976) The role of auditory stimuli in the courtship of Drosophila melanogaster. Anim. Behav. 24, 18–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlein, Y., Galun, R. and Ben-Eliahu, M. N. (1981) Receptors of sex pheromones and abstinons in Musca domestica and Glossina morsitans. J. chem. Ecol. 7, 291–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shorey, H. H. (1962) Nature of sound produced by Drosophila melanogaster during courtship. Science. 137, 677–678.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spieth, H. T. (1974) Courtship behaviour of Drosophila. A. Rev. Ent. 19, 385–405.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Swynnerton, C. F. M. (1936) The tsetse flies of East Africa. A first study of their ecology, with a view to their control. Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond. 84, 579.Google Scholar
Tobe, S. S. and Langley, P. A. (1978) Reproductive physiology of Glossina. A. Rev. Ent. 23, 283–307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Turner, D. A. (1971) Olfactory perception of live hosts and carbon dioxide by the tsetse fly, G. m. orientalis. Bull. ent. Res. 61, 75–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vanderplank, F. L. (1948) Experiments in cross-breeding tsetse flies (Glossina spp). Ann. trop. Med. Parasit. 42, 131–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waldron, I. (1964) Courtship sound production in two sympatric Drosophila species. Science. 144, 191–193.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Webb, J. C., Sharp, J. L., Chambers, D. L., McDow, J. J. and Benner, J. C. (1976) Analysis and identification of sounds produced by the male Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspensa. Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 69, 415–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webb, J. C., Calkins, C. O., Chambers, D. L., Schwienbacher, W. and Russ, K. (1983) Acoustical aspects of behaviour of Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata: analysis and identification of courtship sounds. Entomologia exp. appl. 33, 1–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar