Breaking a paradigm: male-produced aggregation pheromone for the Colorado potato beetle.
A male-produced aggregation pheromone was identified for the Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). While male beetles produced only minor amounts of the pheromone, its production could be enhanced by topical application of juvenile hormone III (JH III) (eightfold), by antennectomy (40-fold) or by the combined treatment of JH III and antennectomy (almost 200-fold); this enhancement enabled the identification of the compound as (S)-3,7-dimethyl-2-oxo-oct-6-ene-1,3-diol [(S)-CPB I], a unique structure for an insect pheromone. Antennal receptors of both sexes responded selectively to the (S)-enantiomer. Both male and female Colorado potato beetles were attracted to serial source loads of (S)-CPB I in laboratory bioassays; (R)-CPB I was inactive or inhibitory, as demonstrated by the inactivity of the racemate. This is the first identification of a pheromone for the Colorado potato beetle and differs from the paradigm of a female-produced pheromone for this insect. The attractant is also the first male-produced pheromone identified for the Chrysomelidae. The discovery that both JH III and antennectomy increase levels of the pheromone (S)-CPB I indicates the existence of a feedback system involving antennal input, and this system may be under hormonal control.
Dickens
Joseph C
JC
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Plant Sciences Institute, Vegetable Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA. dickensj@ba.ars.usda.gov
Oliver
James E
JE
Hollister
Benedict
B
Davis
John C
JC
Klun
Jerome A
JA
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010675:Pheromones / Q000378:metabolism*; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000494:pharmacology; D011198:Solanum tuberosum / Q000737:chemistry; D014835:Volatilization
D010675:Pheromones; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; C036585:juvenile hormone III