VOLATILE SEX-PHEROMONE IN THE FEMALE GERMAN-COCKROACH

Virgin German cockroach adult females release an attractant that can b e extracted with organic solvents and trapped from air blown over sexu ally receptive females. Behavioral assays with an olfactometer showed that the attractant was produced exclusively by adult females and it e licited behavioral responses in adult males, confirming its function a s a female sex pheromone. Using behavioral and electrophysiological as says, we localized the site of pheromone production on the tenth abdom inal tergite where an adult female-specific gland is found. Females wh ose glands were ablated were significantly less attractive to males th an sham-operated control females.