Figure 1. Functional properties of the male sex pheromone CH503.
(A) The typical courtship sequence of D. melanogaster is comprised of wing vibration performed by the male towards the female, tapping and tasting of the female abdomen with the forelegs, and abdomen curling followed by copulation. (B) Courtship behavior exhibited by wild-type Drosophila males decreases in a dose-dependent manner with increasing amounts of CH503 on the surface of virgin females. N = 25–30, Fisher's exact probability test, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. (C) CH503 does not change the latency to courtship initiation, as measured by the latency to wing vibration. N = 16–24, ANOVA with Tukey's multiple comparison test. Error bars represent SEM. (D) CH503 suppresses the amount of time the fly actively spends courting. Courtship vigor is defined as the total time the male spends courting, calculated from the first instance of orientation and wing vibration. N = 8–24, ANOVA with Tukey's multiple comparison test, **p < 0.01. Error bars represent SEM. (E) CH503 has low volatility and inhibits courtship only when detected on female cuticles. The absence of female cuticular hydrocarbons in oenocyte-less (oe-) flies also did not affect CH503-induced courtship suppression. N = 8, Fisher's exact probability test, ***p < 0.001.