Interference of sonic communication and mating in leafhopperAmrasca devastans (distant) by certain volatiles.

Mating between the two sexes in the leafhopperAmrasca devastans was inhibited by cineole vapors surrounding host plant leaves bearing the insects. There was a decline in the percentage of pairs mating and mated females fertilized. The vapors were not toxic and did not prevent the insects' arrival on the leaves. The cineole vapors inhibited the mating chiefly by interfering with the surface-mediated sonic communication between the sexes. The inhibition of mating was chemical specific since other volatiles, e.g., citral, were not as effective as cineole. Exposure to cineole vapors resulted in a decline in the sexual response of the females to the sonic signals of the male.