Les modalités de communication dans le comportement sexual de Calliphora vomitoria (Diptera: Calliphoridae): vers une...

During sexual behaviour, the body and the behaviour of the partner provide a pattern of distant or contact signals. In order to evaluate in which respect courtship behaviour and its success depend on the comparison between the male's expectancy (template) and its actual perception, we have presented to male flies partner bodies with modified odours or shapes or both from different sexes and ages. Our data demonstrated the simultaneous use of different sensory channels. They suggest two different processes which might be involved in the construction of the template. Firstly, it could result from sensory reafferences, with a shuttle between stimuli and responses. In that case, the mismatch between expectancy and actual perception might induce disturbances in the courtship behaviour. If the differences are too high, it could stop the courtship sequence which resumes at its beginning. Secondly, the template could result from a process of representation. Then, when expectancy does not fit the perceived image, courtship would not be disturbed and the male could extract a new significance from the network of stimuli provided by the partner's body.