A PHEROMONE-LIKE DISPERSANT AFFECTING THE LOCAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE EUROPEAN HOUSE CRICKET, ACHETA DOMESTICA

Abstract

Both sexes of Acheta domestica produce and respond to an attractant(s) deposited upon wooden blocks. However, both avoid paper-covered conditioned blocks, suggesting that a dispersant is also produced but is normally secondary to the attractant. Both sexes produce and respond negatively to the dispersant, each sex reacting to the dispersant of its sex than to that of the other. A model suggests the role of the interaction of the dispersant and attractant.