ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors examine the sexual signals given off by female mealworm beetles that permit males to discriminate the females from males. They aims to formulate a bioassay and experimentally to determine the signal modality involved in the male's discriminations, in the process becoming acquainted with the logic of experimental studies of animal communication. The specific cues being sent are often not obvious or apparent to a human observer, so one needs a well-defined behavioral assay - a response that permits assessment of whether or not an animal has received the information. Using the bioassay one learns which sensory modalities are actually involved in the communication. Students’ instructor will have sexed a quantity of adult mealworms and isolated males and females for several days before this exercise to increase their responsiveness to the opposite sex during the class period.
