Sex differentiation studies relating to releaser aggregation pheromones of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria

Abstract

Abstract Behavioural responses of nymphs and adults in the gregarious phase of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria (Forskal) (Orthoptera: Acrididae) were investigated in a single‐chamber bioassay system to a choice of two columns of air, one permeated with airborne volatiles emanating from either sex of nymphs or adults and the other untreated. There was no sexual differentiation in the production of or response to nymphal volatiles. Young adults of either sex did not produce a stimulus with significant activity. Of the older adults, only the males produced the aggregation stimulus to which both sexes were equally responsive. Charcoal‐trapped volatiles from the two sexes of nymphs and adults evoked similar aggregation responses. Antennae of the older adults showed significantly higher EAG responses than those of fifth instar nymphs to all four volatile collections, of which volatiles from older adult males were the most stimulatory and evoked the highest EAG amplitudes.