| From your knowledge of the names and structures of Salicylic Acid and Acetyl Salicylic Acid, draw the the structure of methyl salicylate. |
| Recently methyl salicylate has been shown to be an anti-aphrodisiac in moths. During mating, a male moth transfers a sperm packet, which contains sperm and nutrients, into the body of the female. During the next 24 - 48 hours the female will lay eggs which are fertilized by this male's sperm. In order to discourage other males from mating with the female, the sperm packet is also laced with methyl salicylate. It has been observed that other males will approach a recently mated female, but are repelled by the Oil of Wintergreen. It appears that the females do not become attractive again until about 5 days after their first mating. The first male therefore derives a reproductive advantage in having more of his offspring in the next generation. |
| A similar mechanism operates in fruit flies. Since females benefit from a wider choice of good sperm, they are promiscuous (which is why breeding experiments require virgins). The females put the males in a "sperm competition" with each other. In response, some males produce a toxic fluid which is transferred to the female, along with the sperm, during mating. The toxic fluid appears to reduce the viability of competing sperm from other males, so that males which produce these toxins have a reproductive advantage over others. Unfortunately for the female, the toxic seminal fluid may reduce her fertility and even her life span. Still, this benefits the male because even though she produces less offspring, almost all of the progeny she does produce will be his. This makes him a reproductive, and evolutionary, success. |