Summary
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1.
A receptiveEurema lisa female assumes a rigid posture and extends her abdomen out from between the hindwings in response to male courtship behavior.
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2.
Abdominal extension can be elicited from a virgin female in the laboratory by rubbing the antennae and thorax of a female with a live male restrained in forceps. An assay was developed using this response.
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3.
This behavioral assay showed that a male scent is required, in part, to elicit abdominal extension from virgin females.
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4.
The source of the scent is a patch of differentiated scales on the ventral surface of the base of the forewing. There are cells in the integument of the forewing which are in close association with the attachment points of these scales.
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I thank Dr. Thomas Eisner for his supervision, guidance, and support of this study. I am also indebted: to Mr. Richard Archbold for making available to me the excellent facilities and staff at the Archbold Biological Station in Lake Placid, Florida; to Drs. John Alcock, W.L. Brown, R.R. Capranica, D. Tapper, and Ms. K. Rutowski for their critical reading of the manuscript. Sources of financial support included a Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid-of-Research, a Bache Fund Award, NSF Grant No. BMS-74-15084 (to T. Eisner), and NIH Grant No. At-02908 (to T. Eisner).
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Rutowski, R.L. Chemical communication in the courtship of the small sulphur butterflyEurema lisa (lepidoptera, pieridae). J. Comp. Physiol. 115, 75–85 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00667786
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00667786