title: North American Species of Cerambycid Beetles in the Genus Neoclytus Share a Common Hydroxyhexanone-Hexanediol Pheromone Structural Motif.
abstract: Many species of cerambycid beetles in the subfamily Cerambycinae are known to use male-produced pheromones composed of one or a few components such as 3-hydroxyalkan-2-ones and the related 2,3-alkanediols. Here, we show that this pheromone structure is characteristic of the cerambycine genus Neoclytus Thomson, based on laboratory and field studies of 10 species and subspecies. Males of seven taxa produced pheromones composed of (R)-3-hydroxyhexan-2-one as a single component, and the synthetic pheromone attracted adults of both sexes in field bioassays, including the eastern North American taxa Neoclytus caprea (Say), Neoclytus mucronatus mucronatus (F.), and Neoclytus scutellaris (Olivier), and the western taxa Neoclytus conjunctus (LeConte), Neoclytus irroratus (LeConte), and Neoclytus modestus modestus Fall. Males of the eastern Neoclytus acuminatus acuminatus (F.) and the western Neoclytus tenuiscriptus Fall produced (2S,3S)-2,3-hexanediol as their dominant or sole pheromone component. Preliminary data also revealed that males of the western Neoclytus balteatus LeConte produced a blend of (R)-3-hydroxyhexan-2-one and (2S,3S)-2,3-hexanediol but also (2S,3S)-2,3-octanediol as a minor component. The fact that the hydroxyketone-hexanediol structural motif is consistent among these North American species provides further evidence of the high degree of conservation of pheromone structures among species in the subfamily Cerambycinae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH 45207. raya6@xavier.edu.
authors.forename: Ann M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521.
authors.forename: Jocelyn G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Millar
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521.
authors.forename: Jardel A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521.
authors.forename: J Steven
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: McElfresh
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801. Present address: Center for Insect Science and Department of Neuroscience, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ 85721.
authors.forename: Robert F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.affiliation: University of Idaho Parma Research and Extension Center, Parma, ID 83660.
authors.forename: James D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Barbour
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801.
authors.forename: Lawrence M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Hanks
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000737:chemistry*; D006018:Glycols / Q000737:chemistry*; D006588:Hexanones / Q000737:chemistry*; D008297:Male; D010675:Pheromones / Q000737:chemistry*; D013045:Species Specificity; D014481:United States
chemical_list: C543649:2,3-hexanediol; C543648:3-hydroxyhexan-2-one; D006018:Glycols; D006588:Hexanones; D010675:Pheromones
keywords: 2,3-hexanediol; 3-hydroxyhexan-2-one; chemical ecology; wood-borer