Comparison of male and female electroantennogram responses to a panel of plant associated volatiles in the common house cricket, Acheta domesticus

Abstract

Electroantennogram (EAG) responses were recorded from both sexes of the common house cricket, Acheta domesticus to a panel of ecologically relevant volatiles. A panel of 11 volatiles in males p cresol, anisole, sabinene, methyl salicylate, heptanal, 2 acetyl furan, tri ethyl amine, m cresol, cis-3-hexen-1-ol, n undecane, 2 methyl butyl benzoate , and 10in females 2 acetyl furan, 2 methyl butyl benzoate, tri ethyl amine, methyl salicylate, sabinene, p cresol, iso eugenol, methyl eugenol, eugenol, and m cresol were tested. They represented the chemical classes: monoterpenoid, aromatic ester, aromatic alcohol, aromatic ether, fatty acid derivative, green leaf volatile, and furan. Overall, I found that compounds from the aromatics group elicited the most robust EAG responses. The aromatic ester, 2-methyl butyl benzoate was found to elicit the largest EAG responses in males, while the furan compound, 2-acetyl furan, elicited the largest EAG responses in females. Dose-response experiments were carried out with two of the compounds (i.e., m-cresol and 2-acetyl furan) that elicited robust EAG responses in both sexes. The concentrations tested spanned a total of more than 2 log units for each compound. I found that the antennae of both sexes responded to 2-acetyl furan and m-cresol in a dose-dependent manner. The threshold concentration for both sexes and both compounds was 50 ug. For 2-acetyl furan, the normalized EAG value observed in males at this dose was 0.30 mV and 0.34 mV in females. For m-cresol, these values were 0.54 mV in males and 0.25 mV in females. For 2-acetyl furan and m-cresol, the maximum normalized EAG values observed at the highest dose tested (i.e., 5000 ug) were 0.73 mV for males and 1.02 mV for females and 1.02 mV for males and 0.70 mV for females, respectively.