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PASADENA, Calif., June 25 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists studying nematode mating behavior have produced video footage of a male worm preparing to mate with a hermaphrodite.
California Institute of Technology Professor Paul Sternberg and postdoctoral researcher Allyson Whittaker investigated the role of the excitatory neurotransmitter acetylcholine in regulating tail muscles to achieve an exploratory embrace.
The video they made shows two nematodes of the species Caenorhabditis elegans.
The researchers said the hermaphrodite did not actively co-operate in mating, so the male made and maintained the necessary contact. He pressed the front side of his tail against the hermaphrodite while he backed along its body searching for the vulva.
If not found along the first side, the researchers said the tail makes a sharp turn, curling round the end of the hermaphrodite to continue searching on the other side. On finding the vulva, the male inserts his spicules and mating commences.
The study is detailed in the journal BMC Biology.
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