Mating and adult feeding behaviour influence pheromone production in female Asian longhorn beetle Anoplophora glabripennis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) |
| |
Authors: | Tian Xu Laura Hansen Stephen A Teale |
| |
Institution: | College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse, NY, 13210 U.S.A. |
| |
Abstract: | - The Asian longhorn beetle (ALB) Anoplophora glabripennis Motschulsky is a destructive invasive species worldwide. Female ALB produce a pheromone component, α-longipinene, in the genitalia. However, the origin and factors, such as age, mating, adult feeding and host plant, influencing the production of this compound are unclear.
- Our results showed that virgin female ALB consistently produced α-longipinene at various ages after feeding for several days post eclosion, but unfed adult females never produced this compound. Mating significantly reduced the amount of α-longipinene in female genitalia.
- α-Longipinene was the most dominant compound in the volatiles emitted by females, but not in those emitted by males or host twigs (Acer pensylvanicum L.). The proportion of α-longipinene among the beetle-released sesquiterpenes that were known to be male antennally active was significantly greater than that emitted by ALB damaged, mechanically damaged or control twigs.
- These results suggest that ALB females probably derive α-longipinene or a precursor from hosts via adult feeding, and release it at a significantly different ratio from that found in host volatiles. The various ratios of α-longipinene produced by beetles and host twigs may encode information pertaining to multiple purposes such as aggregation, mate and host location.
|
| |
Keywords: | Asian longhorn beetle compound ratio pheromone sesquiterpene α-Longipinene |
|
|