Molecular, neuronal, and behavioral mechanism of communication among insect species: A review

Abstract

Insects are the largest group of invertebrates having unique modalities of communication among members of the same species. Conspecific communication among insect species occurs mainly through visual, tactile, chemical, and behavioral changes. A number of studies on different insect models have been conducted by several researchers to understand the molecular, neuronal, and behavioral mechanism underlying communication among conspecifics. Though huge volume of research has been done to understand the mechanistic details of insect communication, there are a number of answered questions which require special attention. Understanding mechanisms of communication among insects has a number of potential applications in devising appropriate and sustainable control and/or management of insect population in the crop field. Pheromones are being used to effectively manage insect population since long before. Genetic basis of odor detections and interpretation of different odorants by insect species that carry message for different purposes involves several signaling receptors including G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) and second messenger signaling. Neuronal firing pattern following exposure to a pheromonal compound explains partially the mechanism of conspecific message delivery conspecific. However, how limited number of odorant-binding proteins that detect large spectrum of odorant species and differentiate as a different signal is not yet understood.