Behavioral responses of male Periplaneta americana L. to female sex pheromone components, periplanone-A and periplanone-B

Abstract

Bioassays were performed on male Periplaneta americana L. using synthetic (-)-periplanone-B (P-B) and Hauptmann's (-)-periplanone-A (P-A), and their mixtures at various ratios to estimate the roles of both periplanones for the sexual communication of the species. Both P-A and P-B elicited qualitatively the same responses, such as antennal movement, rapid locomotion, wing raising, and homosexual behavior of male cockroaches, but the threshold of the pheromone activities for P-B was two orders of magnitude lower than that of P-A. Neither synergistic nor inhibitory but only a simple integrated effect on the responses was observed when mixtures of P-A and P-B were applied. © 1990 Plenum Publishing Corporation.