title: Experimental evidence for chemical mate guarding in a moth.
abstract: In polyandrous species, males seek to maximize their reproductive output by monopolizing their mate. Often the male transfers substances to the female that suppress her sexual receptivity or antagonize the behavior of competing males; both are usually transferred in seminal fluids and represent forms of chemical mate guarding. In moths, more long-range female sex pheromones have been identified than in any other animal group, and males often display with close-range sex pheromones, yet odor-based post-copulatory mate guarding has not been described in moths so far. We tested the hypothesis that the male sex pheromone in the noctuid moth Heliothis virescens perfumes the female and functions as an anti-aphrodisiac. Indeed, virgin females perfumed with male pheromone extract, or with its main component, mated significantly less than control virgin females, and this effect persisted for two successive nights. This chemical mate guarding strategy was disadvantageous for H. virescens females, because the reproductive output of twice-mated females was significantly higher than that of once-mated females. Since the female and male sex pheromones are biosynthetically related in this and other moth species, chemical mate guarding may also impose selection pressure on the long-range female sex pheromone channel and consequently affect the evolution of sexual communication.
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Seyed Ali
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hosseini
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.|North Carolina State University, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Raleigh NC, USA.
authors.forename: Michiel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Wijk
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Gao
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.affiliation: University of Tehran, Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Karaj, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Hossein
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Goldansaz
authors.affiliation: North Carolina State University, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Raleigh NC, USA.
authors.forename: Coby
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schal
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.|North Carolina State University, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Raleigh NC, USA.|Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Department of Entomology, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Astrid T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Groot
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D008297:Male; D052586:Mating Preference, Animal; D009036:Moths; D010675:Pheromones; D012724:Sex Attractants; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal
chemical_list: D010675:Pheromones; D012724:Sex Attractants