Insects change sexual behavior to protect themselves from ... - Público.pt

Scientists in Brazil and Canada have demonstrated for the first time that insects alter their sexual behavior before a storm, reducing the commitment to seduction and mating time when the low atmospheric pressure.

Led by José Maurício Simões Benedict, University of São Paulo, the researchers from that institution and the University of Western Ontario studied the sexual behavior of three very different species of insects – a beetle (Diabrotica speciosa) a moth (Pseudaletia unipuncta) and aphid (Macrosiphum euphorbiae) – able to decrease, increase and stagnant atmospheric pressure.

With the use of an instrument that assesses the response of insects to an odor, scientists males exposed to extracts of beetle pheromones female and observed that, at low atmospheric pressures, the animals showed less movement and less interest in females than in atmospheric pressures stable or rising.

They also observed that when in contact with females, males not devoted much effort in seduction and mating occurred faster in atmospheric pressures in fall, usually associated with rainfall and strong winds.

This behavior, scientists admit, can explain as a response to a sense of impending death.
Maurice Benedict, reduction in libido hours prior to a storm is a form of adaptation which “reduces the likelihood of injury or death of the insect, which makes sense if one considers that the strong winds and rain storms can be fatal to these animals. “

Also the female moth and aphid changed their sexual behavior before changes in atmospheric pressure.

“These results show that three very different species of insects change aspects of their sexual behavior in response to changes in atmospheric pressure”, which suggests that all insects adapt to the possibility of bad weather, said Maurice Benedict.