Identification of the Sex Pheromone of Holotrichia reynaudi

Ward, A and Moore, C and Anitha, V and Wightman, J and John Roge, D (2002) Identification of the Sex Pheromone of Holotrichia reynaudi. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 28 (3). pp. 515-522. ISSN 0098-0331

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Abstract

The male attractant pheromone of the scarab beetle Holotrichia reynaudi, an agricultural pest native to southern India, was extracted from abdominal glands of females with hexane and analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Field testing of the candidate chemicals, indole, phenol, and anisole, both alone and as binary mixtures, led us to conclude that anisole was the major component of the sex pheromone. Neither male nor female beetles were attracted to indole or phenol on their own. Similarly, when indole and anisole were combined, the attractiveness of the solution did not increase over that obtained with anisole alone. However, combination of phenol and anisole did alter the attractiveness of anisole, with fewer male beetles attracted to the binary mixture than to anisole on its own. The behavior of female beetles was not altered by any of the chemicals tested. Anisole is also the sex pheromone of H. consanguinea, making this the first known example of two melolonthine scarabs sharing the same pheromone

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	UNSPECIFIED
CRP:	UNSPECIFIED
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Melolonthinae, Holotrichia reynaudi, anisole, indole, phenol, pheromone
Subjects:	Others > Entomology
Depositing User:	Ms K Syamalamba
Date Deposited:	10 Jan 2013 11:01
Last Modified:	07 Feb 2014 05:40
URI:	http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/6406
Official URL:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10705-007-9141-3
Projects:	UNSPECIFIED
Funders:	UNSPECIFIED
Acknowledgement:	UNSPECIFIED
Links:	Google Scholar

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