Copulation in the cricket is performed by chain reaction.
The male and female genitalia are finely designed to match each other for copulation in the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus. Copulatory acts of the male, stereotyped and time-fixed, are elicited by stimulation of mechanoreceptors on particular regions of the abdomen, cerci and genitalia. Sequential execution of each motor act proceeds as a chain reaction in which one act stimulates some receptors which in turn elicits another act and so on, while the female remains immobile on the male's back. Each key stimulus for a motor act appears as a result of the male's own act, except for copulatory papilla protrusion by the female. The final sequence of spermatophore extrusion and transfer are irreversible fixed motor actions which are triggered when the female copulatory papilla stimulates the epiphallic hairs. They proceed without continual central drive from the brain, and apparently without sensory feedback. In addition, they are well coordinated with movement and posture in the entire body. Some neural mechanisms of controlling mating behavior and switching the reproductive cycle are discussed.
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, Japan. masack@cc.okayama-u.ac.jp
Masaki
M
Sakai
Mikihiko
M
Kumashiro
D000818:Animals; D003307:Copulation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005835:Genitalia / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D006135:Gryllidae / Q000502:physiology*; D007323:Instinct; D008297:Male; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology*; D014741:Video Recording