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Curr Biol

Title:		A mosaic of endogenous and plant-derived courtship signals in moths
Author(s):		Liu Y; Heath JJ; Zhang S; van Wijk M; Wang G; Buellesbach J; Wada-Katsumata A; Groot AT; Schal C;
Address:		"State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China; Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA. Electronic address: liuyang02@caas.cn. Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA. State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China. Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; Department of Evolutionary and Population Biology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Department of Evolutionary and Population Biology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA. Electronic address: coby@ncsu.edu"
Journal Title:		Curr Biol
Year:		2023
Volume:		20230801
Issue:		16
Page Number:		3529 - 3535
DOI:		10.1016/j.cub.2023.07.010
ISSN/ISBN:		1879-0445 (Electronic) 0960-9822 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Insects rely on olfaction to guide a wide range of adaptive behaviors, including mate and food localization, mate choice, oviposition site selection, kin recognition, and predator avoidance.(1) In nocturnal insects, such as moths(2) and cockroaches,(3) mate finding is stimulated predominantly by long-range species-specific sex pheromones, typically emitted by females. During courtship, at close range, males in most moth species emit a blend of pheromone compounds from an everted, often large, pheromone gland. While long-distance communication with sex pheromones has been remarkably well characterized in thousands of moth species,(2)(,)(4) close-range chemosensory sexual communication remains poorly understood. We reveal that in the moth Chloridea virescens, the male pheromone consists of three distinct classes of compounds: de novo biosynthesized alcohols, aldehydes, acetates, and carboxylic acids that resemble the female's emissions; newly identified compounds that are unique to the male pheromone, such as aliphatic polyunsaturated hydrocarbons; and sequestered plant secondary compounds and hormone derivatives, including methyl salicylate (MeSA). Thus, males employ a mosaic pheromone blend of disparate origins that may serve multiple functions during courtship. We show that two olfactory receptors in female antennae are tuned to MeSA, which facilitates female acceptance of the male. Because MeSA is emitted by plants attacked by pathogens and herbivores,(5) the chemosensory system of female moths was likely already tuned to this plant volatile, and males appear to exploit the female's preadapted sensory bias. Interestingly, while female moths (largely nocturnal) and butterflies (diurnal) diverged in their use of sensory modalities in sexual communication,(6) MeSA is used by males of both lineages"
Keywords:		"Animals Female Male *Moths *Sex Attractants *Butterflies Courtship Pheromones Sexual Behavior, Animal Chloridea virescens Gc-ead communication herbivores methyl salicylate pheromone sequestration sexual selection;"
Notes:		"MedlineLiu, Yang Heath, Jeremy J Zhang, Sai van Wijk, Michiel Wang, Guirong Buellesbach, Jan Wada-Katsumata, Ayako Groot, Astrid T Schal, Coby eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. England 2023/08/03 Curr Biol. 2023 Aug 21; 33(16):3529-3535.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.07.010. Epub 2023 Aug 1"