Monoalkenes as contact sex pheromone components of the woodwasp Sirex noctilio.
A pheromone on the cuticle of females of the woodwasp Sirex noctilio, a recently introduced pest of pines in North America, induces conspecific males to attempt copulation. Dead females washed with hexane did not elicit copulation attempts from males, whereas reapplication of a female hexane body wash onto the cuticle of dead females elicited copulation attempts by 65% of males tested. Analysis of the hexane extract revealed saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons as major components of the female cuticle. Behavior-guided fractionation of the female body wash led to the identification of three components, (Z)-7-heptacosene, (Z)-7-nonacosene, and (Z)-9-nonacosene, of the sex pheromone of S. noctilio that elicited copulatory responses from males.
Center for Chemical Ecology, Department of Entomology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA. katalin.by@gmail.com
Katalin
K
Böröczky
Damon J
DJ
Crook
Tappey H
TH
Jones
Joshua C
JC
Kenny
Kelley E
KE
Zylstra
Victor C
VC
Mastro
James H
JH
Tumlinson
D000475:Alkenes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D003307:Copulation / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006927:Hymenoptera / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012867:Skin / Q000737:chemistry
D000475:Alkenes; D008055:Lipids; D012724:Sex Attractants