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Chemical Communication in Schizocosa malitiosa: Evidence of a Female Contact Sex Pheromone and Persistence in the Field

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Abstract

Mate finding in many spider species is mediated, at least in part, by chemical cues. Although few have been characterized, most spider sex pheromones seem to be associated with the silk threads of adult females, attracting and/or triggering sexual behaviors in males. Schizocosa malitiosa (Araneae: Lycosidae) is a wolf spider common in dry environments in Southern Uruguay. Here, we report evidence for the occurrence of a female sex pheromone in the silk of virgin S. malitiosa females. The pheromone elicits typical courtship displays by conspecific males (palpal drumming and leg shaking), when it is applied to an artificial substrate. We also showed that this pheromone is quickly inactivated under field conditions, possibly due to the effect of dew, and that it is readily extracted from the silk by water, which renders the silk threads inactive. Preliminary chemical analyses by mass spectrometry suggest that the pheromone is a low molecular weight, highly oxygenated polar compound, present in a high concentration only in older virgin females. Quick inactivation in the field of the pheromone would allow males to discriminate between recent and old cues, thus facilitating mate searching and sexual meeting, by preventing males from following old cues for wandering females that could be distant in space and/or time.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Comisión Sectorial de Investigación Científica (CSIC, UdelaR), Comisión Académica de Posgrado (CAP, UdelaR) and PEDECIBA for financial support to LB, and Ms. Natalia Berta for technical assistance in mass spectrometry. We thank Emily MacLeod and two anonymous reviewers for comments and suggestions that improved the manuscript. We also thank Anita Aisenberg, Macarena Gonzáles and Carlos Toscano for their help in the collection of spiders. Mass spectrometry facilities at Polo Tecnologico-FQ were supported by UE Grant Proyecto Enlaces-UE URY 2003-5906.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Etología, Ecología y Evolución. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Av. Italia 3318, Montevideo, CP 11600, Uruguay

    Luciana Baruffaldi & Fernando G. Costa

  2. Laboratorio de Espectrometría de Masa, Polo Tecnológico, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, Av.Aparicio Saravia s/n, Pando, CP 91000, Uruguay

    Alejandra Rodríguez

  3. Laboratorio de Ecología Química, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, Gral. Flores 2124, Montevideo, CP 11800, Uruguay

    Andrés González

  4. Sección Entomología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá 4225, Montevideo, CP 11400, Uruguay

    Luciana Baruffaldi

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  1. Luciana Baruffaldi
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  2. Fernando G. Costa
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  3. Alejandra Rodríguez
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  4. Andrés González
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Correspondence to Luciana Baruffaldi.

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Baruffaldi, L., Costa, F.G., Rodríguez, A. et al. Chemical Communication in Schizocosa malitiosa: Evidence of a Female Contact Sex Pheromone and Persistence in the Field. J Chem Ecol 36, 759–767 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-010-9819-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-010-9819-x

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