Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence for volatile sex pheromones in Parcoblatta wood cockroaches

Species within the cockroach genus Parcoblatta are sexually dimorphic for wing length; females have reduced wings and are flightless, while males have long wings that are used in flight. We predicted that Parcoblatta females would release a volatile sex pheromone to attract the more mobile males. Nymphs of the broad wood cockroach, P. lata, and the Caudell's wood cockroach, P. caudelli, were collected in forested areas in North Carolina, USA, and reared in the laboratory for observations of sexual behavior and for pheromone analysis. After several days of sexual maturation, virgin females of both species exhibited distinct calling behaviors. In females of P. lata, calling commenced 6 days after adult emergence. Under a light-dark photoperiod regime, calling behavior in both species was restricted to the scotophase. Calling consisted of a repeated pattern of raising and lowering the abdomen with occasional exposure of the genital vestibulum. To test whether calling behavior is associated with the release of pheromone, volatiles from calling and noncalling females were collected on Super-Q and tested by electroantennogram (EAG) and behavioral assays. Volatile collections from calling females elicited higher male-specific EAG responses than collections from noncalling females of the same physiological stage. In an olfactometer choice test (Y-tube), males preferred volatiles from calling females over those from noncalling females. To determine the anatomical source of the pheromone, solvent extracts of various body parts were analyzed by EAG. The first through seventh tergites were the only body parts that elicited male-specific EAG responses in both species. In P. lata, the activity of the extract increased from 1- to 7-day-old females, but was lower in mated than in virgin females of the same age. The putative pheromone gland appears to consist of numerous class-3 secretory units, each composed of a secretory cell connected to a cuticular pore via a tubular duct. We conclude that female P. lata and P. caudelli produce ex-specific volatile pheromones that are emitted during calling behavior.