If a female of one of these Portias smells a male of the same species, the female stimulates the males to court.
It has been proposed that males are "acoustically tuned" to signals generated by active females, stimulating increased courtship by changing the attention state of the male [ 21].
11-cis-Vaccenyl-Acetate (cVA), an oxygenated lipid, is thought to have an aphrodisiac effect on females, stimulating receptivity towards copulation, and acting as an anti-aphrodisiac for males (Jallon, 1984; Cobb, 1996; Kurtovic et al., 2007).
However, the pattern of decreased glycogen and increased triglycerides seen after mechanical stimulation was not seen in females stimulated by light.
In general, waking activity decreased in both males and females stimulated by light (Figure 2F), despite the fact that the females lost sleep, while the males did not.
In this study, we, for the first time, found that acoustic (or perhaps seismic) signals provided by active females stimulate fast localization of the female for courtship initiation.
Artificial introduction of female urine in interactions with urine-blocked females stimulated male mating attempts in six encounters.
Perhaps the pursuing of females stimulates the males to induce them into the next sequences of courtship leading to copulation.
Females stimulated into mating with attractive males have an increased short-term fecundity, but decreased overall lifetime reproductive success [ 55, 84], whereas females stimulated into mating with unattractive males may suffer immediate fitness costs, but benefit long term by reduced personal harm and potentially higher quality offspring [ 85].
As a heterosexual male, I do find bare female breasts "stimulating", but I don't feel comfortable ogling and discussing them at length like some.
