Sexual mimicry regulates the attractiveness of mated Drosophila melanogaster females.

During mating, male Drosophila melanogaster transfer to the female's cuticle a compound (7-tricosene) that is almost absent from virgin females but is the major hydrocarbon component of the male's cuticle. During the first 3 hr after mating, the amount of 7-tricosene on a female decreases sharply but remains significantly above virgin levels. By 6 hr after mating, female synthesis of 7-tricosene has increased, and females release it when they are exposed to courting males. Transfer of 7-tricosene to immature virgin females by courting males significantly decreases their attractiveness, so 7-tricosene has demonstrable antiaphrodisiac properties. Thus, mated D. melanogaster females appear to mimic males by releasing, during courtship, an antiasphrodisiac pheromone that is almost absent from virgin females but is the most prominent hydrocarbon of the male cuticle.