Lygus bugs are a major agricultural pest. Image supplied by Brent et al. (CC BY 4.0)

Better mating through chemistry

Male Lygus bugs deposit ‘antiaphrodisiac’ chemicals in females to makes them less attractive to other males – but females can neutralise the chemicals to form ‘anti-antiaphrodisiacs’.

eLife
eLife
Jul 28, 2017 · 3 min read

In many animal species, males guard females to prevent rivals from mating so that they can be sure that they fathered the female’s offspring. Some guarding methods work even when the male is not present. For example, the semen of some male insects contains chemicals known as antiaphrodisiacs that repel other males from females who have recently mated. Over the course of several days or weeks, the females expel or degrade the antiaphrodisiacs, making themselves attractive to other mates again. How long it takes to eliminate the antiaphrodisiacs depends on how much of the chemicals were deposited in the first place. Therefore, males could gain an advantage in fertilizing more eggs by depositing excess antiaphrodisiac to make the females unattractive to other mates for a long time.

The Western tarnished plant bug (Lygus hesperus) is an agricultural pest that targets cotton, strawberries and other crops. One antiaphrodisac had already been identified in the semen of male Lygus bugs. To investigate whether the males produced any others, Colin Brent and colleagues tested the molecules emitted by recently mated females. This search identified another potential antiaphrodisiac. However, females are able to convert this second chemical into a third one that neither attracts nor repels males. This “anti-antiaphrodisiac” acts against the males’ two antiaphrodisiacs, and allows the females to more accurately signal when they are ready to mate again, giving them more control over their reproduction.

Anti-antiaphrodisiacs were not previously known to exist, but now that scientists know where to look, more are likely to be found in other species. A better understanding of how different chemicals interact to influence the mating behavior of insects could also lead to new methods of targeting pests of crops, which are safer for the environment than existing chemical pesticides.

To find out more

eLife is an open-access journal that publishes outstanding research in the life sciences and biomedicine.
This text was reused under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Life on Earth

Exploring the ways in which living things evolve and interact

eLife

Written by

eLife

Cutting jargon and putting research in context

Life on Earth

Exploring the ways in which living things evolve and interact

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade