1Université Henri Poincaré, Laboratoire de Biologie et Physiologie du Comportement, URA-CNRS 1293, B.P. 239, 54506 Vandoeuvre-Les-Nancy, France.
2Institut für Organische Chemie, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Hagenring 30, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
Qualitative changes in lipid content and composition were examined on web and cuticle of Tegenaria atrica females in relation to sexual receptivity. In this spider species, 78 different compounds were detected by gaz chromatography in the cuticle extract and 50 in the web; 28 identical compounds were present both on the spider silk and the cuticle of the female. The components were long chain aliphatic hydrocarbons, fatty acids and esters. On the web, sexual receptivity was correlated with changes in eleven polar compounds. On the cuticle, sexual receptivity was correlated with changes in eight polar compounds and 26 hydrocarbons. Bioassays demonstrated that the methanol eluate of webs and females were involved in stimulating the sexual behavior of males. Qualitative and/or quantitative changes in hexadecanoic acid, octadecadienoic acid, octadecenoic acid, methyl palmitate, methyl octadecanoate and n-tricosane could play a role in the contact sex signals from web and cuticle of T. atrica.