Exposure to Conspecific and Heterospecific Sex-Pheromones Modulates Gustatory Habituation in the Moth Agrotis ipsilon
In several insects, sex-pheromones are essential for reproduction and reproductive isolation. Pheromones generally elicit stereotyped behaviors. In moths, these are attraction to conspecific sex-pheromone sources and deterrence for heterospecific sex-pheromone. Contrasting with these innate behavior...
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doaj-1ff7812d3b3f4ddb93decb524510ca0a2020-11-25T02:16:36ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Physiology1664-042X2019-12-011010.3389/fphys.2019.01518484309Exposure to Conspecific and Heterospecific Sex-Pheromones Modulates Gustatory Habituation in the Moth Agrotis ipsilonCamille HostachyPhilippe CouziGuillaume PortemerMelissa Hanafi-PortierMeena MurmuNina DeisigMatthieu DacherIn several insects, sex-pheromones are essential for reproduction and reproductive isolation. Pheromones generally elicit stereotyped behaviors. In moths, these are attraction to conspecific sex-pheromone sources and deterrence for heterospecific sex-pheromone. Contrasting with these innate behaviors, some results in social insects point toward effects of non-sex-pheromones on perception and learning. We report the effects of sex-pheromone pre-exposure on gustatory perception and habituation (a non-associative learning) in male Agrotis ipsilon moths, a non-social insect. We also studied the effect of Z5-decenyl acetate (Z5), a compound of the sex-pheromone of the related species Agrotis segetum. We hypothesized that conspecific sex-pheromone and Z5 would have opposite effects. Pre-exposure to either the conspecific sex-pheromone or Z5 lasted 15 min and was done either immediately or 24 h before the experiments, using their solvent alone (hexane) as control. In a sucrose responsiveness assay, pre-exposure to the conspecific sex-pheromone had no effect on the dose-response curve at either delays. By contrast, Z5 slightly improved sucrose responsiveness 15 min but not 24 h after pre-exposure. Interestingly, the conspecific sex-pheromone and Z5 had time-dependent effects on gustatory habituation: pre-exposing the moths with Z5 hindered learning after immediate but not 24-h pre-exposure, whereas pre-exposure to the conspecific sex-pheromone hindered learning at 24-h but not immediate pre-exposure. They did not have opposite effects. This is the first time a sex-pheromone is reported to affect learning in a non-social insect. The difference in modulation between conspecific sex-pheromone and Z5 suggests that con- and hetero-specific sex-pheromones act on plasticity through different cerebral pathways.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphys.2019.01518/fullinsectmothgustatory perceptionsugar responsivenessnon-associative learninghabituation |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Camille Hostachy Philippe Couzi Guillaume Portemer Melissa Hanafi-Portier Meena Murmu Nina Deisig Matthieu Dacher |
spellingShingle |
Camille Hostachy Philippe Couzi Guillaume Portemer Melissa Hanafi-Portier Meena Murmu Nina Deisig Matthieu Dacher Exposure to Conspecific and Heterospecific Sex-Pheromones Modulates Gustatory Habituation in the Moth Agrotis ipsilon Frontiers in Physiology insect moth gustatory perception sugar responsiveness non-associative learning habituation |
author_facet |
Camille Hostachy Philippe Couzi Guillaume Portemer Melissa Hanafi-Portier Meena Murmu Nina Deisig Matthieu Dacher |
author_sort |
Camille Hostachy |
title |
Exposure to Conspecific and Heterospecific Sex-Pheromones Modulates Gustatory Habituation in the Moth Agrotis ipsilon |
title_short |
Exposure to Conspecific and Heterospecific Sex-Pheromones Modulates Gustatory Habituation in the Moth Agrotis ipsilon |
title_full |
Exposure to Conspecific and Heterospecific Sex-Pheromones Modulates Gustatory Habituation in the Moth Agrotis ipsilon |
title_fullStr |
Exposure to Conspecific and Heterospecific Sex-Pheromones Modulates Gustatory Habituation in the Moth Agrotis ipsilon |
title_full_unstemmed |
Exposure to Conspecific and Heterospecific Sex-Pheromones Modulates Gustatory Habituation in the Moth Agrotis ipsilon |
title_sort |
exposure to conspecific and heterospecific sex-pheromones modulates gustatory habituation in the moth agrotis ipsilon |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Physiology |
issn |
1664-042X |
publishDate |
2019-12-01 |
description |
In several insects, sex-pheromones are essential for reproduction and reproductive isolation. Pheromones generally elicit stereotyped behaviors. In moths, these are attraction to conspecific sex-pheromone sources and deterrence for heterospecific sex-pheromone. Contrasting with these innate behaviors, some results in social insects point toward effects of non-sex-pheromones on perception and learning. We report the effects of sex-pheromone pre-exposure on gustatory perception and habituation (a non-associative learning) in male Agrotis ipsilon moths, a non-social insect. We also studied the effect of Z5-decenyl acetate (Z5), a compound of the sex-pheromone of the related species Agrotis segetum. We hypothesized that conspecific sex-pheromone and Z5 would have opposite effects. Pre-exposure to either the conspecific sex-pheromone or Z5 lasted 15 min and was done either immediately or 24 h before the experiments, using their solvent alone (hexane) as control. In a sucrose responsiveness assay, pre-exposure to the conspecific sex-pheromone had no effect on the dose-response curve at either delays. By contrast, Z5 slightly improved sucrose responsiveness 15 min but not 24 h after pre-exposure. Interestingly, the conspecific sex-pheromone and Z5 had time-dependent effects on gustatory habituation: pre-exposing the moths with Z5 hindered learning after immediate but not 24-h pre-exposure, whereas pre-exposure to the conspecific sex-pheromone hindered learning at 24-h but not immediate pre-exposure. They did not have opposite effects. This is the first time a sex-pheromone is reported to affect learning in a non-social insect. The difference in modulation between conspecific sex-pheromone and Z5 suggests that con- and hetero-specific sex-pheromones act on plasticity through different cerebral pathways. |
topic |
insect moth gustatory perception sugar responsiveness non-associative learning habituation |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphys.2019.01518/full |
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