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PLoS One

Title:		Environmentally vulnerable noble chafers exhibit unusual pheromone-mediated behaviour
Author(s):		Harvey DJ; Vuts J; Hooper A; Finch P; Woodcock CM; Caulfield JC; Kadej M; Smolis A; Withall DM; Henshall S; Pickett JA; Gange AC; Birkett MA;
Address:		"School of Biological Sciences, University of London, Egham, Surrey, United Kingdom. Department of Biointeractions and Crop Protection, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Herts, United Kingdom. School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom. Department of Invertebrate Biology, Evolution and Conservation, Institute of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biological Science, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland. Buglife-The Invertebrate Conservation Trust, Orton Waterville, Peterborough, United Kingdom. School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom"
Journal Title:		PLoS One
Year:		2018
Volume:		20181101
Issue:		11
Page Number:		e0206526 -
DOI:		10.1371/journal.pone.0206526
ISSN/ISBN:		1932-6203 (Electronic) 1932-6203 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Conserving populations of environmentally vulnerable insect species requires a greater understanding of the factors that determine their abundance and distribution, which requires detailed knowledge of their population and community ecology. Chemical ecological tools such as pheromones can be used for non-destructive monitoring of scarab beetle populations, enabling European countries to detect and, in some cases, map the range of some of these species, proving a valuable technique for monitoring elusive saproxylic beetles. In this paper, we investigated the behavioural and chemical ecology of the noble chafer, Gnorimus nobilis L., a model insect species of conservation concern across a Europe-wide distribution, and a red-listed UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority species. We identified a potential pheromone of adult beetles using electrophysiological recordings, behavioural measurements and field trials in the UK. Gnorimus nobilis is highly unusual in that although both sexes produce, at high metabolic cost, the natural product 2-propyl (E)-3-hexenoate, it only attracts males. This pattern of chemical signalling makes the classification of the compound, based on current semiochemical terminology, somewhat problematic, but in our view, it should be termed an aggregation pheromone as a consequence of the production pattern. Since both sexes emit it, but apparently only males respond positively to it, 2-propyl (E)-3-hexenoate may reflect an intermediate evolutionary stage towards developing into a sex-specific signal. From an applied perspective, our study provides a model for the non-invasive surveillance of cryptic vulnerable insect species, without the need for habitat searching or disturbance, and continuous human monitoring"
Keywords:		"Animals Arthropod Antennae/physiology *Behavior, Animal/physiology *Coleoptera/physiology Conservation of Natural Resources/methods Female Male *Pheromones/chemical synthesis/chemistry Poland Sex Characteristics Smell/physiology United Kingdom;"
Notes:		"MedlineHarvey, Deborah J Vuts, Jozsef Hooper, Antony Finch, Paul Woodcock, Christine M Caulfield, John C Kadej, Marcin Smolis, Adrian Withall, David M Henshall, Sarah Pickett, John A Gange, Alan C Birkett, Michael A eng 2018/11/02 PLoS One. 2018 Nov 1; 13(11):e0206526. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206526. eCollection 2018"