title: Identification of the sex pheromone of Holotrichia reynaudi.
abstract: The male attractant pheromone of the scarab beetle Holotrichia reynaudi, an agricultural pest native to southern India, was extracted from abdominal glands of females with hexane and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Field testing of the candidate chemicals, indole, phenol, and anisole, both alone and as binary mixtures, led us to conclude that anisole was the major component of the sex pheromone. Neither male nor female beetles were attracted to indole or phenol on their own. Similarly, when indole and anisole were combined, the attractiveness of the solution did not increase over that obtained with anisole alone. However, combination of phenol and anisole did alter the attractiveness of anisole, with fewer male beetles attracted to the binary mixture than to anisole on its own. The behavior of female beetles was not altered by any of the chemicals tested. Anisole is also the sex pheromone of H. consanguinea, making this the first known example of two melolonthine scarabs sharing the same pheromone.
authors.affiliation: Farming Systems Institute, Department of Primary Industries, Kingaroy, Qld, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Anitha
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wightman
authors.forename: D John
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Rogers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000840:Anisoles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D007211:Indoles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement; D010636:Phenols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000840:Anisoles; D007211:Indoles; D010636:Phenols; D012724:Sex Attractants; C060998:anisole