Evidence for a compound in Comstock-Kellog glands modulating premating behavior in male desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria

• Published in: Journal of chemical ecology Vol. 28; no. 5; pp. 1065 - 1074
• Main Authors: NJAGI, Peter G. N, TORTO, B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Springer 01-05-2002; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal behavior; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Autoecology; Bioassays; Biological and medical sciences; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gas chromatography; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Grasshoppers - physiology; Male; Mass spectrometry; Metabolites; Protozoa. Invertebrata; Scent Glands - metabolism; Sexual Behavior, Animal; Volatile compound; Chemical analysis; Insecta; Orthoptera; Sexual behavior; Male; Pheromone; Acrididae; Electroantennography; Gas chromatography; Arthropoda; Acridoidea; Schistocerca gregaria; Invertebrata; Mass spectrometry
• ISSN: 0098-0331; 1573-1561
• DOI: 10.1023/A:1015222120556

The Comstock-Kellog glands in adult females of certain acridid species, including the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria have been implicated as a source of volatiles that play a role in mating behavior. A dichloromethane extract of the glands was analyzed for metabolites by gas chromatography, coupled gas chromatography-electroantennographic detection, and mass spectrometry. Coupled gas chromatography-electroantennographic detector (GC-EAD) analysis revealed a component that elicited an electroantennogram response from the antenna of adult male S. gregaria. The compound was identified by GC-MS as pentanoic acid. The levels of the compound in the gland extract varied with age of female locust; it was present in detectable amounts only in 14- to 16-day-old females. In bioassays, pentanoic acid significantly stimulated pre-mating behavior in male desert locust. These results are discussed in relation to the biology of the locust.