IBN-9317589 Tompkins Abstract Hawaiian Drosophila species appear to have evolved very rapidly. This research project, at the interface of chemistry and biology, investigates the extent to which the chemical communication systems of the Hawaiian species have diverged from those of their continental counterparts. Pheromones are chemicals synthesized by one individual that affect the behavior of another individual. Dr. Laurie Tompkins, a biologist at Temple University, and Dr. Larry L. Jackson, a chemist at Montana State University, are investigating the pheromones of a Hawaiian Drosophila species, D. adiastola. This species is of particular interest because males raise their abdomens over their heads, emitting droplets of fluid, while performing courtship in response to females. Drs. Tompkins and Jackson have discovered species-specific chemical compounds in the males' droplets. Moreover, females of this species will mate only with D. adiastola males, and they can distinguish D. adiastola males from males of other, closely related species even if they cannot see the males. These observations suggest that perception of the chemicals in males' droplets enables females to distinguish different males. Accordingly, Drs. Tompkins and Jackson will attempt to identify the pheromones in males' droplets. Drs. Tompkins and Jackson have also shown that waxy compounds on the cuticle ("skin") of D. adiastola females, many of which are species-specific, stimulate males to court the females and enable them to distinguish D. adiastola females from females of another, closely related species. The researchers will attempt to identify the compounds on females' cuticles that enable males to tell different females apart. In addition, since some of the waxy compounds on males' cuticles are species- specific, the researchers will try to determine whether or not any of these compounds acts as a pheromone.
