Mantid sex pheromones: female calling behaviour and male responses in the Australian false garden mantid, Pseudomantis albofimbriata (Dictyoptera: Mantidae)

ABSTRACT

Pheromones are important components of insect reproductive biology. They play a broader role in praying mantid behaviour by aggregating individuals and facilitating sexual recognition. Female calling behaviour in praying mantids is a specific posture associated with the emission of pheromones. We describe the calling behaviour of female Australian false garden mantids, Pseudomantis albofimbriata (Stal), and identify the age at which they first start calling based on observations conducted both in the laboratory and in large field enclosures. We found that unmated females displayed a characteristic calling posture that exposed coloured abdominal intersegment membranes, whilst exhibiting a rhythmic pumping movement of the abdomen. Unlike other mantid species, P. albofimbriata females did not lift their wings during this display. Both observations showed that the female calling posture is typically adopted throughout the night; however, it predominantly occurs at 2300 hrs. The average female age at first calling is 14 days after adult emergence. We also found that males did not respond to mated females but responded only to the signals emitted by calling unmated females under natural and semi-natural conditions. Males responded towards calling females within a short period (10–15 minutes) and were attracted from long distances. Importantly, female calling behaviour and male response behaviour occurred in a synchronous manner during the entire nocturnal period. This study provides evidence that female calling behaviour and pheromone emission are intimately linked in praying mantids.

KEYWORDS:

• Calling posture
• pheromone release
• male behaviour
• male arrival pattern
• female age
• praying mantid

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Anu Jayaweera, Darshana Rathnayake and Barbara Dean for their help with collection and rearing of mantids. Special thanks to Mariella Herberstein for helpful comments on manuscript preparation and continued guidance and support throughout the experiment. Thanks are also extended to Macquarie University for funding this research.

Author contributions

MM and KLB conceived the research. MM conducted experiments, analysed the data and performed statistical analysis. MM and KLB wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.