title: Release mechanism of sex pheromone in the female gypsy moth Lymantria dispar: a morpho-functional approach.
abstract: A morpho-functional investigation of the sex pheromone-producing area was correlated with the pheromone release mechanism in the female gypsy moth Lymantria dispar. As assessed by male electroantennograms (EAG) and morphological observations, the pheromone gland consists of a single-layered epithelium both in the dorsal and ventral halves of the intersegmental membrane between the 8th and 9th abdominal segments. By using the male EAG as a biosensor of real-time release of sex pheromone from whole calling females, we found this process time coupled with extension movements of the ovipositor. Nevertheless, in females in which normal calling behavior was prevented, pheromone release was detected neither in absence nor in presence of electrical stimulation of the ventral nerve cord/terminal abdominal ganglion (TAG) complex. Tetramethylrhodamine-conjugated dextran amine stainings also confirm the lack of any innervation of the gland from nerves IV to VI emerging from the TAG. These findings indicate that the release of sex pheromone from the glands in female gypsy moths is independent of any neural control exerted by the TAG on the glands, at least by way of its three most caudally located pairs of nerves, and appears as a consequence of a squeezing mechanism in the pheromone-producing area.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Biology, Section of General Physiology, University of Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, Monserrato (CA), Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Solari
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Crnjar
authors.forename: Saturnino
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spiga
authors.forename: Giorgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sollai
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Loy
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Masala
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liscia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D004702:Endocrine Glands / Q000294:innervation* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D017952:Ganglia, Invertebrate / Q000166:cytology*; D008297:Male; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000379:methods; D009036:Moths / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D012679:Sense Organs / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012724:Sex Attractants