MATING OF THE COCKROACH NAUPHOETA-CINEREA (BLATTODEA, BLABERIDAE) .2.HISTAMINE CHANGES DURING COURTSHIP AND COPULATION

The concentrations of biogenic amine histamine were measured in the su praoesophageal and the 6th abdominal ganglia of the cockroach Nauphoet a cinerea during courtship and copulation. In both sexes the highest c oncentration of histamine in their brains was found in the 5th minute of copulation. In the last abdominal ganglion of males a sharp increas e in histamine level was recorded in the 5th and 10th minutes, at the time of spermatophore transfer into the female's bursa copulatrix. It suggests the direct involvement of histamine in the regulation of this process during copulation.