32 6 
Psyche 
[December 
P. fulvescens in the exhibition of phallomere extension without the 
stimuli derived from female mounting and feeding; contact of the 
abdominal tip with the female suffices to release this response. 
The release of flying by males in sexual situations has previously 
been observed in Epilampra azteca and Epilampra columbiana. In 
E. columbiana , females as well as males fly, and for courtship 
activity to occur it appears necessary for both the male and female 
to have flown just previously. The most frequent stimulus releas- 
ing courtship in a male which has just flown is a female landing 
next to him (Barth, unpublished data). 
2. Release of the female’s behavior 
The mounting and feeding behavior of females is released by the 
male sex pheromone in many cockroach species (Barth, 1968c). 
Such a male sex pheromone, “seducin,” was extracted by Roth and 
Dateo (1966) from males of Nauphoeta cinerea. There is some 
evidence for the existence of a volatile male sex pheromone in P. 
fulvescens. The frequent wing fluttering by isolated males and 
particularly the wing fluttering that follows unsuccessful copula- 
tion attempts suggests the function of dissemination of a male sex 
pheromone. This function has been suggested for wing fluttering 
in P. americana (Barth, 1970; Simon and Barth, in prep.) and for 
various vibration and trembling movements in various species of 
coackroaches (Roth and Hartman, 1967; Barth, 1968c). The 
function of flying in courtship situations remains a mystery, but 
male sex pheromone dissemination is a possibility. 
During the observation periods, there were occasions in which 
females approached males in a manner which appeared to be non- 
random and suggestive of an awareness of the male’s presence. The 
following procedure was followed to test for oriented locomotion 
in females in response to a source of volatile male sex pheromone. 
Prior to an observation period, a filter paper from a beaker contain- 
ing a single male was placed into the female side of the mating 
chamber on the side opposite to the location of the two females. 
Before the filter paper was introduced, the females were relatively 
quiescent showing some locomotion and slight antennal waving. 
After introduction of the paper, one female showed increased an- 
tennal activity and the other female started to locomote in the 
general direction of the paper, palpating the substratum as she 
moved. When she had progressed to within two inches of the paper, 
she turned directly toward it and came into antennal contact with 
the paper. She then stroked the paper lightly with her antennae, 
