Sex recognition mediated by chemical signals has been studied in several species of arthropods, but the effect of multimodality, specifically the implication of vision, has been seldom investigated. In the present study, we conducted experiments to understand the role played by single (either chemical or visual) and combined (both chemical and visual) stimuli in sex recognition by the crayfish Procambarus clarkii during the mating period. Results showed that, while in both males and females sex seemed to be recognised through odours alone, visual stimuli induced different responses in the two sexes. Differently to males, females increased locomotion and showed a more intense agonistic behaviour at the sight of either a male or a female conspecific but not when visual stimuli were combined with odours from males. Chemical cues seem therefore to modulate female responses to visual stimuli. To our knowledge, this is one of the few examples in invertebrates of concurrent signals functioning as multiple sources of information, with one signal changing the ‘message’ of another.
Sex identification in female crayfish is bimodal / L. AQUILONI; A. MASSOLO; F. GHERARDI. - In: NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN. - ISSN 0028-1042. - STAMPA. - 96:(2009), pp. 103-110. [10.1007/s00114-008-0458-9 Published: JAN 2009]
Sex identification in female crayfish is bimodal.
AQUILONI, LAURA;GHERARDI, FRANCESCA
2009
Abstract
Sex recognition mediated by chemical signals has been studied in several species of arthropods, but the effect of multimodality, specifically the implication of vision, has been seldom investigated. In the present study, we conducted experiments to understand the role played by single (either chemical or visual) and combined (both chemical and visual) stimuli in sex recognition by the crayfish Procambarus clarkii during the mating period. Results showed that, while in both males and females sex seemed to be recognised through odours alone, visual stimuli induced different responses in the two sexes. Differently to males, females increased locomotion and showed a more intense agonistic behaviour at the sight of either a male or a female conspecific but not when visual stimuli were combined with odours from males. Chemical cues seem therefore to modulate female responses to visual stimuli. To our knowledge, this is one of the few examples in invertebrates of concurrent signals functioning as multiple sources of information, with one signal changing the ‘message’ of another.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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