| Title: | (R)-Desmolactone is a sex pheromone or sex attractant for the endangered valley elderberry longhorn beetle Desmocerus californicus dimorphus and several congeners (Cerambycidae: Lepturinae) |
| Author(s): | Ray AM; Arnold RA; Swift I; Schapker PA; McCann S; Marshall CJ; McElfresh JS; Millar JG; |
| Address: | "Department of Biology, Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America. Entomological Consulting Services, Ltd., Pleasant Hill, California, United States of America. California State Collection of Arthropods, Sacramento, California, United States of America. Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America. Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Department of Entomology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, California, United States of America" |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0115498 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1932-6203 (Electronic) 1932-6203 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "We report here that (4R,9Z)-hexadec-9-en-4-olide [(R)-desmolactone] is a sex attractant or sex pheromone for multiple species and subspecies in the cerambycid genus Desmocerus. This compound was previously identified as a female-produced sex attractant pheromone of Desmocerus californicus californicus. Headspace volatiles from female Desmocerus aureipennis aureipennis contained (R)-desmolactone, and the antennae of adult males of two species responded strongly to synthetic (R)-desmolactone in coupled gas chromatography-electroantennogram analyses. In field bioassays in California, Oregon, and British Columbia, traps baited with synthetic (R)-desmolactone captured males of several Desmocerus species and subspecies. Only male beetles were captured, indicating that this compound acts as a sex-specific attractant, rather than as a signal for aggregation. In targeted field bioassays, males of the US federally threatened subspecies Desmocerus californicus dimorphus responded to the synthetic attractant in a dose dependent manner. Our results represent the first example of a 'generic' sex pheromone used by multiple species in the subfamily Lepturinae, and demonstrate that pheromone-baited traps may be a sensitive and efficient method of monitoring the threatened species Desmocerus californicus dimorphus, commonly known as the valley elderberry longhorn beetle" |
| Keywords: | Animals Coleoptera/*metabolism Female Lactones/*analysis Male Sex Attractants/*chemistry; |
| Notes: | "MedlineRay, Ann M Arnold, Richard A Swift, Ian Schapker, Philip A McCann, Sean Marshall, Christopher J McElfresh, J Steven Millar, Jocelyn G eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2014/12/19 PLoS One. 2014 Dec 18; 9(12):e115498. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0115498. eCollection 2014" |
