title: Chemical cues from females trigger male courtship behaviour in grasshoppers.
abstract: Gomphocerine grasshoppers use species-specific calling songs for sex recognition and mate attraction. In two closely related species, Chorthippus biguttulus and C. mollis, acoustic communication is the only experimentally characterized communication channel that elicits male courtship behaviour. However, courtship in these species involves extensive close-range interactions that are likely to be mediated by other signalling modalities, in particular chemical cues. We developed a bioassay to determine if female cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) act as chemical cues that induce courtship behaviour, and if males assess variation in CHCs to determine whether or not to court a female. The results of this approach provide evidence that grasshopper males use species- and sex-specific information from CHC signals and respond with a courtship song to the CHC profile of conspecific females but not to the CHC profile of heterospecific females and conspecific males. We conclude that males of C. biguttulus and C. mollis use multimodal channels for mating decisions, based on both acoustic and olfactory cues. We discuss various factors that might favour the evolution of male choosiness in grasshoppers.
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Physiology, Department of Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Invalidenstr. 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany. jonasfinck87@gmail.com.|Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, 10115, Berlin, Germany. jonasfinck87@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Finck
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Physiology, Department of Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Invalidenstr. 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Janine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuntze
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Physiology, Department of Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Invalidenstr. 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ronacher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003380:Courtship; D005260:Female; D006110:Grasshoppers / Q000502:physiology*; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D019476:Insect Proteins; D008297:Male; D046709:Pattern Recognition, Physiological; D012018:Reflex; D012903:Smell; D012912:Sneezing; D013045:Species Specificity; D014785:Vision, Ocular
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons; D019476:Insect Proteins; C047663:cuticle proteins, insects
keywords: Chorthippus; Cuticular hydrocarbons; Male choosiness; Mating behaviour