A contact sex pheromone component of the emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae).
Analyses of the elytral hydrocarbons from male and female emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, that were freshly emerged vs. sexually mature (>10 days old) revealed a female-specific compound, 9-methyl-pentacosane (9-Me-C(25)), only present in sexually mature females. This material was synthesized by the Wittig reaction of 2-decanone with (n-hexadecyl)-triphenylphosphonium bromide followed by catalytic reduction to yield racemic 9-Me C(25), which matched the natural compound by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (retention time and EI mass spectrum). In field bioassays with freeze-killed sexually mature A. planipennis females, feral males spent significantly more time in contact and attempting copulation with unwashed females than with females that had been washed in n-hexane to remove the cuticular lipids. Hexane-washed females to which 9-Me-C(25) had been reapplied elicited similar contact time and percentage of time attempting copulation as unwashed females, indicating that 9-methyl-pentacosane is a contact sex pheromone component of A. planipennis. This is the first contact sex pheromone identified in the Buprestidae.
Silk
Peter J
PJ
Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Atlantic Forestry Centre, P O Box 4000, Fredericton, NB E3B 5P7, Canada. psilk@nrcan.gc.ca
Ryall
Krista
K
Barry Lyons
D
D
Sweeney
Jon
J
Wu
Junping
J
D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008297:Male; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010675:Pheromones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000502:physiology; D013057:Spectrum Analysis
D006838:Hydrocarbons; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds; D010675:Pheromones