title: Sex Pheromone of Agriotes acuminatus (Stephens, 1830) (Coleoptera: Elateridae).
abstract: The click beetle species Agriotes acuminatus is distributed in open deciduous forests throughout a large area in Europe. In order to identify its sex pheromone, gland extracts of female beetles were investigated by using GC/MS. Neryl butanoate and 2,6-dimethyl-(Z,E)-2,6-octadien-1,8-diol dihexanoate, in a ratio of approximately 1:5, were the only volatile compounds present in the extracts. Structures of both esters were confirmed by synthesis. Field experiments revealed a strong attraction of A. acuminatus males towards neryl butanoate, which could be synergistically enhanced by addition of 2,6-dimethyl-(Z,E)-2,6-octadien-1,8-diol dihexanoate. The latter compound alone did not show any attractive effect. While all Agriotes spp. investigated to date use geranyl and/or (E,E)-farnesyl esters as sex pheromones, the nerol derivatives of A. acuminatus are the first (Z)-2-configurated pheromones within this genus.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Zoologie, Universität Hohenheim, Tierökologie 220c, Garbenstrasse 30, 70593 Stuttgart, Germany. tolasch@uni-hohenheim.de
authors.forename: Till
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tolasch
authors.forename: Maximilian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: von Fragstein
authors.forename: Johannes L M
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Steidle
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D008297:Male; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000737:chemistry*; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D012724:Sex Attractants; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds